Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid and Waris De chief Amritpal Singh, who contested and won the recent Lok Sabha elections while incarcerated, will need to secure court permissions to attend parliamentary sessions. According to prison officials and legal experts, they will be escorted under stringent security measures.
Rashid, currently detained in Delhi’s Tihar Jail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), secured the Baramullah seat in Jammu and Kashmir with 204,142 votes. Meanwhile, Amritpal Singh, held in Assam’s Dibrugarh Jail under the National Security Act (NSA), won the Khadoor Sahib seat in Punjab by a margin of 197,120 votes.
A Delhi prison official, speaking anonymously, stated, “There will be restrictions on the use of cell phones and interactions with anyone other than Parliament officials or fellow parliamentarians during their transit. Officers of the rank of ACP and inspector will escort them. Typically, jail officials notify the police and provide a photocopy of the order, allowing temporary release with restrictions.”
PDT Acharya, former Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha, explained that police escort teams can only accompany the detainees to the Parliament gates. “At the gates, the accused will be handed over to Parliament security, who will then escort them to the House. If a person is not convicted, they can contest elections and attend Parliament after securing permission. Once inside, they can address the House. However, for the oath ceremony or parliamentary sessions, they will need to approach the court each time.”
Advocate Navkiran Singh, a prominent human rights lawyer, noted that Amritpal Singh currently lacks legal representation as he voluntarily chose not to challenge the NSA. “We had met him, but he refused to challenge the NSA. Most likely, he will need to seek court permission to attend Parliament,” Singh added.
Sunil Kumar, a former law officer at Tihar Jail, outlined the procedure for their attendance. “The Speaker sends an invitation for the oath-taking ceremony to the jail superintendent. Since the individuals are in judicial custody, the superintendent must inform the court and obtain permission. The court will then stipulate safety measures for their transit. In the late ’80s or early ’90s, a similar case involved an individual from Punjab, booked under terrorism charges, who won state elections and had to be escorted under heavy security.”
Sources By Agencies
