Amritpal Granted 54 Days' Leave, Centre Tells Punjab And Haryana High Court

Chandigarh: The Centre has informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that Independent MP from Khadoor Sahib constituency Amritpal Singh has been granted leave for 54 days. This information was given before a bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sumit Goel by solicitor general Satpal Jain, who produced a letter issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on March 11.

Amritpal had been allowed leave from June 24, 2024, to July 2, 2024, from July 22, 2024, to August 9 and from November 25, 2024 to December 20, 2024. On this, the bench said that the petitioner had doubts about being expelled from Parliament but this letter allays his concerns.

Singh in his petition had sought permission to meet officials and ministers for local development works related to MP funds. The bench said that the proceedings of Parliament continue with certain rules. Therefore, it would be better if the petitioner applies to the Lok Sabha Speaker in this regard. Amritpal Singh, who is also the head of the Waris Punjab De, had sought permission to participate in the Lok Sabha session in his petition.

He said that his continuous absence is a violation of his fundamental rights and the people of his constituency are going without a representative. He also argued that if his absence exceeds 60 days, his seat can be declared vacant and it will affect about 19 lakh voters.

Amritpal Singh had sought permission from the Lok Sabha Speaker on November 30, 2023, to attend the Parliament session and was informed that he had already been absent for 46 days. Despite this, he applied to the District Magistrate several times but did not receive any response, after which he sought judicial intervention.

Singh's lawyer said that he should also be allowed to attend the Lok Sabha session. On this, the Central government, citing two orders of the Supreme Court, said that in both these orders, the Supreme Court had made it clear that any accused who is in custody or detention is not allowed to attend the session. In this regard, it is clear that Amritpal Singh is not entitled to attend the Lok Sabha session. After this, Amritpal Singh's lawyer said that Amritpal Singh was not getting MP funds for the development works of his constituency. On this, the High Court said that he can submit his application to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for this.