Chandigarh: Dismissing a plea filed by Sikh preacher and Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh against his third consecutive detention order under the National Security Act (NSA), the Punjab and Haryana high court has made it clear that there is a likelihood of public order and the security of the state being prejudiced if he were not preventively detained.In its detailed order, the high court further observed that “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 comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry also held that in the given facts and circumstances, satisfaction that arrived by the state of Punjab by issuing order dated April 15, 2025, could not have been district/incident/event centric. “Thus, the order dated April 15, 2025, was rightly issued in generic terms, authorizing all the district magistrates and commissioners of police to exercise the powers of the state government 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 in detention order and we do not find any infirmity/illegality,” the bench has held in its 15-page order.In his plea, Amritpal, detained in Dibrugarh jail in Assam since April 2023, had challenged the third fresh detention order dated April 15, 2025, which was approved and subsequently confirmed by the state govt.In the grounds of detention, Amritpal was accused 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 FIR No. 159 of 2024, which involved the murder of Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau on Oct 9, 2024. Nau was described as a former close associate of Amritpal who distanced himself and was promoting a counter-narrative against the ‘Waris Punjab De’ (WPD) organisation on social media.Another ground included an intelligence alert dated March 23, 2025, alleging that Amritpal, while lodged in Dibrugarh jail, directed the formation of the Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF) International Association in Canada. The association reportedly advocates for an armed struggle for “Khalsa Raj in the form of Khalistan“, arms training, and plans to protest Indian embassies. However, strongly contesting these grounds, Amritpal in his plea had argued he was in detention when the murder took place on October 9, 2024, and thus, “there is no possibility or circumstance under which he could have been involved”. According to the plea, a perusal of the police report (U/s 173 CrPC) for the murder case “leads towards the conclusion that there is not an iota of evidence” against him.BOX“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 ariseThe Punjab & Haryana high courtPunjab moves HC To ensure that the Khadoor Sahib MP does not come out of jail after his detention period ends on April 22, the Punjab govt has sought permission to allow police to investigate him at a designated location in Dibrugarh, Assam. The state said his return could adversely impact law and order. It has also sought directions to conduct all judicial proceedings, including production, remand and filing of chargesheet, via videoconferencing. The plea is likely to be heard on Friday.
