Amritpal Singh to take oath as MP on July 5, will be flown in from Assam jail to Lok Sabha Speaker’s chamber

A source said Amritpal, the radical Sikh preacher detained under the National Security Act (NSA), was given parole of up to four days by the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar starting from July 5. “The parole will be allowed only for oath-taking. The parole of up to four days is given to make sure that he can be flown in on any of these four days if the weather does not allow his transit. The parole has been given with certain conditions that have been communicated to the jail superintendent in Dibrugarh,” said the source.

The disclosure was also made by Independent MP from Faridkot, Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, who met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday. After coming back from the meeting, Sarabjeet said, “The Speaker has told me that Bhai Amritpal will take oath on July 5.”

Amritpal’s spokesperson Rajdev Singh Khalsa told The Indian Express that they had not received any official information in this regard. “The Punjab home secretary has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, forwarding Amritpal’s plea that he should be allowed to take oath. The plea went through the jail superintendent of the Dibrugarh jail to the Amritsar deputy commissioner, who forwarded it to the home secretary. They have to take a call now. But we have not received any information officially. However, Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa has told us after meeting the Speaker that he will be taking oath on July 5,” said Rajdev.

Rajdev had earlier said it was likely that Amritpal would take oath on the same day as Rashid, who has been granted custody parole for two hours on July 5 by a Delhi court after the NIA gave its nod. Rashid, who has been lodged in Tihar Jail in Delhi in a 2017 terror funding case, won Lok Sabha elections 2024 as an Independent candidate from Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir.

The 12 other MP-elects from Punjab were sworn in on June 25. After the Congress’s Gurjeet Singh Aujla took the oath, Amritpal’s name was called third on the list, but he was not present.

A senior Punjab government official said they had written to the Speaker that the government would make arrangements to bring Amritpal to Lok Sabha whenever he is permitted to take oath.

The state government forwarding Amrtipal’s plea had given hope to his family and constituency voters. Amritpal won from Khadoor Sahib as an Independent candidate with a landslide margin of 1.97 lakh votes despite not campaigning. He had been lodged in jail since his arrest from Punjab’s Moga on April 23, 2023, following a month-long manhunt.

Buoyed by Amrtipal’s victory, three of his aides, also NSA detainees, announced that they would contest from three Assembly constituencies that will go to bypolls in the coming days. They are Kulwant Singh Raoke, Bhagwant Singh alias ‘Pradhan Mantri’ Bajeke, and Daljeet Singh Kalsi, who have announced to contest from Barnala, Gidderbaha, and Dera Baba Nanak, respectively.