Conditional release for taking the oath of the LS

Chandigarh/Amritsar: Jailed radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is being brought to Delhi on probation to take oath as a member of the Lok Sabha, will be allowed to meet his family but will not be allowed to leave New Delhi’s “territorial jurisdiction”.

During his stay in the capital, neither Singh nor his family members or dependants are allowed to make any statement in any form to the media, as per the conditions laid down in the conditional release order issued by the district magistrate of Amritsar, Punjab, from where he was arrested on April 23 last year.

The Khalistani sympathiser, who won the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat in Punjab during the recent parliamentary elections while lodged in a jail in Assam’s Dibrugarh district, is expected to take oath on Friday.

Singh, 31, will be flown to Delhi from Assam to take oath. His four-day probation period will begin on July 5, sources said on Wednesday.

The conditional release order, which lists ten conditions, states that the period of temporary release includes the time taken to travel from the central jail in Dibrugarh to New Delhi and back.

He “shall not enter the territorial jurisdiction of any place other than New Delhi during the period of temporary release,” it said.

“Amritpal Singh or his family members shall not film any statement made by Amritpal and/or disseminate such statement in electronic form,” the order said.

He will also refrain from any action or statement detrimental to national security, it said.

“The family members of Amritpal, as defined in Section 2(c) of the Punjab Detenue (Condition of Detention) Order, 1981, may meet him during the period he is in New Delhi,” the order said.

Regarding the deployment of security personnel for Singh, the order stated that he will be accompanied by such number of police personnel as the Amritsar (Rural) Superintendent of Police (SSP) may deem fit.

These staff will be with him from the date and time of his temporary release from prison until the time he returns to prison to continue his detention period, it was stated.

The order states that Singh, during the period he is within the premises of Parliament, “shall be accompanied by such number of police personnel or other security personnel as may be permitted by the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha”.

It added that for the period when Singh is not required to be present in Parliament premises, “he will be accommodated at a place in New Delhi deemed suitable by the SSP, Amritsar (rural), taking into account various security considerations”.

On Wednesday, Amritsar District Magistrate Ghamshyam Thori told PTI: “Amritpal Singh has been granted conditional release for a maximum of four days or less, starting from July 5, subject to certain conditions communicated to the Dibrugarh Jail Superintendent.”

Singh, who runs the organisation “Waris Punjab De” and named himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was jailed along with nine of his accomplices under the National Security Act.

He was arrested in Rode village in Moga after he and his supporters stormed the Ajnala police station on February 23, breaking barricades, brandishing swords and guns, and clashed with police officers in an attempt to free one of his associates.