Chandigarh: Dismissing the plea filed by radical Sikh preacher and Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh against his third consecutive detention order under National Security Act (NSA), Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday made it clear that public order and security of the state are likely to be prejudiced if he were not preventively detained.“It is clear as daylight that the impugned order of preventive detention passed against Amritpal is immune from the powers of judicial review,” the division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry said.Given the facts and circumstances, Punjab govt’s order of April 15, 2025 (on Amritpal’s continued NSA detention), could not have been district / incident / event centric, the bench noted. “The order was rightly issued in generic terms, authorizing all district magistrates and commissioners of police to exercise the powers of state govt by invoking NSA to preventively detain the petitioner. Considering the relevant material and exercising the powers conferred vide order dated April 15, 2025, DM Amritsar lawfully passed detention order and we do not find any infirmity / illegality,” the bench held in its 15-page order.Amritpal is lodged in Dibrugarh Jail in Assam since April 2023. Under the grounds of detention, state accused Amritpal of “conspiring with anti-national elements, notorious and dreaded gangsters and terrorists” with the objective to “physically eliminate persons” who might expose his activities. His detention was also stated to be based on the FIR on the Oct 9, 2024, murder of Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau, who was described as a former close associate of Amritpal who had distanced himself and was promoting a counter-narrative against ‘Waris Punjab De’ organisation on social media.Also mentioned was an intelligence alert dated March 23, 2025, alleging that Amritpal, while being lodged in Dibrugarh Jail, directed the formation of Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF) International Association in Canada, which allegedly advocates an armed struggle for “Khalsa Raj in the form of Khalistan“, arms training, and plans to protest at Indian embassies.Strongly contesting these grounds, Amritpal argued in his plea that he was in detention when Nau was murdered, hence there is no possibility that he was involved. According to the plea, a perusal of the police report for the murder case “leads towards the conclusion that there is not an iota of evidence” against him.QUOTE“The material available on record reveals that there was sufficient material before district magistrate Amritsar to safely arrive at a reasonable satisfaction that if he is not preventively detained, the then situation of breach of public order and security of the state may arise,” HC.BOXPunjab Moves HCTo ensure that the radical preacher does not come out of jail after the end of his detention period on April 22, Punjab govt has sought permission to permit police to investigate him at a designated place in Dibrugarh, Assam. According to the state, Amritpal’s return to Punjab may have an adverse impact on law-and-order in the state. Govt has sought directions to conduct the entire judicial proceedings from the beginning, including production of the accused after arrest, remand, presentation of chargesheet, through videoconferencing. The plea is expected to come up for hearing on Friday.
