The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the petition against the election of jailed Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh as Lok Sabha MP. Amritpal Singh, currently lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam, has been elected as an independent MP from Khadur Sahib, Punjab. Amritpal Singh had also moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking directions for quashing of entire proceedings against him under the act, including detention. The petitioner submitted in the high court that his detention is "illegal" and, therefore, it is liable to be set aside.
The petitioner claimed before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan that Article 84 of the Constitution deals with qualification for membership of Parliament and says that a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in Parliament unless he is a citizen of India. "In this case, respondent number four (Amritpal Singh) had said that he does not owe allegiance to the Constitution of India," the petitioner, who appeared in-person, said. "You file an election petition," the bench said.
Earlier, Amritpal Singh had challenged the Punjab government's decision to extend the detention period under NSA and demanded his release.
On July 5, Singh, was granted parole to take oath as members of the Lok Sabha. Singh, who heads the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit, is lodged in a prison in Assam's Dibrugarh district for alleged offences under the National Security Act.
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