File photo of radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh
Credit: PTI Photo
Chandigarh/Amritsar: Jailed radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, who recently won the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary seat in Punjab, is likely to take oath as Lok Sabha member on Friday.
The chief of the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit, who is currently lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail along with nine associates under the National Security Act, has been granted a four-day parole to enable him to take oath, officials in Amritsar said.
Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, an Independent MP from Faridkot, said Amritpal Singh is likely to take oath as MP on July 5.
"I went to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at his residence in Delhi on Wednesday. He said the oath will be administered on July 5," Khalsa told PTI over phone.
He also said that clearances and permissions from various quarters to enable Amritpal Singh to take oath have come.
"I understand that he will be flown in from the prison for taking oath, which will be in the private chamber of the Speaker," he said.
Khalsa said the sole purpose of his meeting the Speaker on Wednesday at the latter's Akbar Road residence in the national capital was regarding Amritpal Singh's oath taking issue.
About parole, Deputy Commissioner-cum District Magistrate, Amritsar, Ghamshyam Thori told PTI, "Amritpal Singh has been granted parole for up to four days or less beginning 5th July with certain conditions that has been communicated to Jail Superintendent Dibrugarh."
In response to another query about the parole, Thori said in a brief statement, "...granted by District Magistrate, Amritsar, after authorisation by the Home Department."
According to Rajdev Singh Khalsa, a lawyer of Amritpal Singh who meets him in jail, said he (Amritpal), through the Dibrugarh jail superintendent, had recently sent a letter to the Amritsar deputy commissioner, who in turn forwarded it to the state government for necessary clearance to allow the jailed preacher to take oath.
His temporary release was sought under Section 15 of the National Security Act.
Having fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an independent, Amritpal Singh won from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat after he defeated Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira. He won by a margin of 1,97,120 votes.
Amritpal Singh, who styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was arrested in Moga's Rode village on April 23 last year following an over a month-long manhunt.
The Khalistan sympathizer had escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances.
The Punjab Police had launched the crackdown after the February 23 Ajnala incident last year in which Amritpal Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into the police station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of Lovepreet Singh Toofan, one of his aides.
He 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.