Chandigarh, March 12 || The Centre on Wednesday informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the Member of Parliament from Khadoor Sahib, Amritpal Singh, has been granted a “leave of absence for 54 days” for attending the ongoing session of the Lok Sabha.
Singh, who is currently detained in Assam under the National Security Act (NSA), had approached the court seeking permission to attend parliamentary proceedings, fearing that prolonged absence beyond 60 days could lead to his constituency being declared vacant.
During the hearing, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel noted that Singh’s concern had been addressed by a letter dated March 11 from the Lok Sabha Secretariat, granting him the leave of absence. “Since the petitioner’s apprehension regarding disqualification from Parliament due to absence stands alleviated, the relief sought is effectively satisfied,” the bench observed.
At the resumed hearing, Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain placed before the Bench the letter for granting “leave of absence of 54 days”.
Senior advocate Anupam Gupta appeared for the state of Punjab, while senior advocate R.S. Bains represented Singh.
Bains had informed the High Court that the legislator had remained absent for 54 days and only six days remained for his seat to be declared vacant on grounds of unauthorised absence.