Amritpal Singh, jailed Engineer Rashid to take oath as Lok Sabha MP today

Amritpal Singh, the Waris Punjab De chief and the MP-elect for Punjab's Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituency, has been granted conditional custody parole, which will allow him to take the oath of office as an MP today. Singh is currently being held under the National Security Act (NSA) in Assam's high-security Dibrugarh Jail. 

The parole could last no more than four days starting on July 5. This was confirmed on Wednesday by Ghanshyam Thori, the deputy commissioner of Amritsar who was granted permission by the Punjab government to determine his parole. He stated that the superintendent of Dibrugarh Jail has been informed of the precise terms of the parole, as reported by Times Of India.

Amritpal Singh will take the oath of office as an MP on July 5 in the speaker's chamber, according to Sarabjit Singh, the MP for Faridkot, who met with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at his Delhi home on Wednesday. He continued by saying that the speaker's office had written to the relevant authorities to make sure the imprisoned MP-elect is brought to Delhi on July 5.

Sources claim that in addition to being prohibited from using cell phones or the internet, he will also not be allowed to communicate with the media or be photographed.

Pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal ran as an independent candidate in the Lok Sabha elections from the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituency. He defeated senior Congress leader Kulbir Singh Zira, Punjab cabinet minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Akali stalwart Virsa Singh Valtoha with a margin of 1,97,120 votes.
Additionally, according to sources, a team of Amritsar police has already departed for Dibrugarh in order to complete the paperwork required in order to transport Amritpal to and from Delhi. It is probable that an Army plane will transport him to Delhi.

Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, is currently being held in Tihar Jail. A Delhi court has granted him 2-hour custody parole so that on July 5, he can take the oath of office as an MP. As an independent from Baramulla, Rashid defeated National Conference candidate Omar Abdullah by a margin of more than two lakh votes in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections. A trio of Amritpal's aides, who were detained alongside him in Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act, have declared their intention to run in the upcoming Punjab assembly bypolls from the seats of Gidderbaha, Barnala, and Baba Bakala.

The Delhi Police and Punjab Police have been directed to coordinate with the secretary general of the Lok Sabha for procedures inside the Parliament complex.
The name of Rashid, a former MLA, cropped up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who the NIA had arrested for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir valley.
The NIA had filed a charge sheet against several individuals, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin in the case. Malik was awarded life imprisonment by a trial court in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to the charges. 

Singh styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and is in jail along with nine of his associates under the National Security Act. Besides them, TMC's Shatrughan Sinha is also yet to be sworn in as member of the Lower of House of Parliament.

(With inputs from agency)