BREAKING: Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Amritpal Singh’s Plea Against NSA Detention

The Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N.V. Anjaria, directed the Punjab MP to approach the jurisdictional High Court instead, while instructing that the matter be decided expeditiously; within six weeks, considering the duration of his continued detention.

Amritpal Singh, currently lodged in Dibrugarh Jail in Assam, had moved the Supreme Court questioning the legality of his preventive detention and simultaneously sought permission to attend the upcoming session of Parliament in his capacity as an elected representative. His petition contended that the NSA order was arbitrary, unconstitutional, and violative of his fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19, 21, and 22 of the Constitution.

In the plea, he maintained that his detention was politically motivated and lacked the procedural safeguards mandated under the NSA.

During the brief hearing today, Senior Advocate Collin Gonsalves appeared for Singh and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju appeared fro the Central government.

The Court made it clear that the petition was not maintainable at this stage before the apex court. Justice Aravind Kumar observed that the appropriate course of action would be to first move the jurisdictional High Court, which could examine the legality of the detention order and the accompanying grounds in detail.

The Bench indicated that while the Court was conscious of the fact that the petitioner had been detained for an extended period, the principle of judicial hierarchy required that such matters first be adjudicated by the concerned High Court.

The Bench further noted that it would direct the High Court to decide Singh’s plea within six weeks once the Central government’s counsel appeared and the formal order was passed.

Amritpal Singh, who contested and won the Lok Sabha elections from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib constituency earlier this year while still in custody, has remained incarcerated since his arrest in March 2023. He was detained under the National Security Act following a series of law enforcement operations in Punjab after being accused of promoting separatist ideologies and attempting to revive the Khalistan movement.