New Delhi, Nov 10: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by radical preacher and Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh challenging his detention under the National Security Act.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria asked Singh to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court with his plea, and asked the high court to decide his petition within six weeks.
Singh, chief of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit, is currently lodged in jail in Assam’s Dibrugarh along with his nine associates under the National Security Act (NSA).
During the hearing, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Singh, submitted that his client has been in detention for over two years, and the entire detention is based on one FIR in which a chargesheet has already been filed.
The apex court told Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Centre, that it was not entertaining Singh’s plea but was giving him liberty to file a petition before the high court.
Raju said the high court may be given eight weeks but the top court said it will give only six weeks to decide on Singh’s plea.
The NSA empowers the Centre and states to detain individuals to prevent them from acting in a manner “prejudicial to the defence of India”.
Singh contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent nominee from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, defeating Congress’ Kulbir Singh Zira by 1,97,120 votes.
Singh, who styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was arrested from Rode village in Moga, Punjab, on April 23, 2023, after over a month-long manhunt.
The Khalistan sympathiser had escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, 2023, switching vehicles and changing appearances.
Punjab Police launched the crackdown after the Ajnala incident on February 23, 2023, in which Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into a police station on the outskirts of Amritsar, and clashed with police for the release of Lovepreet Singh Toofan, one of his aides.
Singh and his associates were booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel, and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
