WPD chief Amritpal Singh’s detention under NSA extended by a year

The extension of the twelve-month detention, as per the order, comes into effect from April 23 this year. A Punjab government functionary, wishing to remain anonymous, told The Indian Express, “The Government of Punjab, Department of Home Affairs and Justice, after taking the consent of the advisory board, confirmed the detention of all ten detainees on June 3, 2024, for a period of 12 months starting from April 23, 2024.”

The Punjab Home Department order for the extension of Amritpal’s detention under the NSA for one year states that the advisory board found sufficient cause for his detention under the provisions of the National Security Act, 1980.

Amritpal was arrested in April last year, over a month after a massive manhunt was launched following his evasion of arrest from a police check post. He was taken to Dibrugarh jail, where his nine associates were already lodged under the NSA. Among other charges, he was accused of storming the Ajnala police station with his supporters to secure the release of a colleague and clashing with police.

Around a year after Amritpal and his associates’ detention, the Amritsar District Magistrate passed another detention order under the NSA on March 13 this year, which was approved by the Punjab government on March 24. Amritpal was further detained under the NSA on April 23 in Central Jail Dibrugarh, Assam, following the Amritsar DM’s order and its approval by the State government.

Following this, the Punjab government sent the representation received from the detainee, along with the detention order record, for the consideration of the advisory board, which upheld the sufficient cause for Amritpal’s detention under the NSA.

WPD secretary and legal advisor advocate Imaan Singh Khara told The Indian Express that he learned about the extension of the detention through a phone call from Dibrugarh jail on Monday. “The phone calling facility from Dibrugarh jail was resumed on Monday after it was discontinued on March 7 due to the Lok Sabha polls. I had a telephonic conversation with two detainees, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala and [Bhagwant Singh alias] Pardhan Mantri Bajeke, who told me that the detention of all ten detainees under the NSA had been extended by a year through an order dated June 3,” said Khara, who is the NSA case counsel for Bukkanwala, Bajeke, and three other detainees, Papalpreet Singh, Basant Singh Daulatpura, and Kulwant Singh Rauke, and had represented Amritpal in his petition in May, where the radical Sikh preacher sought temporary release for seven days to file his nomination to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Khadoor Sahib.

“We did not anticipate that their detention under the NSA would be extended by one year. He is an elected representative of the people. We will take legal recourse. We are also awaiting the response to an application we made before the Punjab Home Secretary, through the Amritsar District Magistrate, who is the detaining authority, for the temporary release of Bhai Amritpal Singh for the oath-taking in Parliament on June 24,” said Khara.

Other detainees lodged in Dibrugarh jail under the NSA are Daljit Singh Kalsi, Gurinderpal Singh Aujla, Varinderpal Singh Fauji, and Amritpal’s uncle, Harjit Singh.

Sukhchain Singh, another uncle of Amritpal, told The Indian Express on the phone, “We had thought that the government would learn some lesson as he has been elected from Khadoor Sahib. Amritpal got the support of the people because they were angry that the government did injustice to him. Now that people have made him succeed in the election as per the Constitution, if the government again does injustice to him, it will lead to anger among the people and a feeling of estrangement.”