Various parties and MPs are weighing their options for the budget session of Parliament starting from January 31, but Lok Sabha MP Amritpal Singh from Khadoor Sahib and Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla in Kashmir, Abdul Rashid Sheikh alias Engineer Rashid, are facing legal challenges to participate in the proceedings of the House. Both the members were sworn in to Parliament last year under court parole but have not been given the opportunity to participate in three sessions so far. Both are independent members and won the Lok Sabha elections while in jail.
32-year-old Amritpal Singh won the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat in the last Lok Sabha elections by the highest margin of 1.97 lakh votes in Punjab, while Engineer Rashid won the Baramulla seat by defeating National Conference candidate Omar Abdullah, who is currently the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
Engineer Rashid was arrested under the National Security Act in 2019 and sent to Tihar Jail when the central government decided to abrogate Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution and abolish the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and convert it into two Union Territories; Amritpal Singh was arrested under the same Act in April 2023 and sent to Dibrugarh Jail in Assam along with eight of his associates.
Amritpal Singh has stated in his petition filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court that he had written a letter to the Speaker in November 2024 regarding his participation in the proceedings of the Lok Sabha, in response to which he was told that he had been absent from the proceedings for the last 46 days.
MP Bhai Amritpal Singh has filed a petition in the High Court under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution, seeking to attend the parliamentary session. Bhai Amritpal Singh, elected from Khadoor Sahib seat in Punjab, says that he is the representative of 19 lakh people and ensuring their presence in the parliamentary session is part of his rights and duties. This petition of Bhai Amritpal Singh has been filed in the High Court registry. After removing some technical objections, it will be listed for hearing. Along with this, Bhai Amritpal Singh had also sought permission to attend the program to be held on January 26, but this demand was withdrawn after the registry objected to it. The petitioner has appealed to the court to allow him to attend the session of Parliament. The petition also states that the repeated errors and amendments in their detention orders show that the administration has been completely negligent in this.
It is noteworthy that if a member is absent from the proceedings of the House for 60 consecutive days, he loses the right to be a member. Engineer Rashid was released on bail to campaign in favor of his party’s candidates in the assembly elections held in Jammu and Kashmir in September-October last year, but it is surprising that he is not being given the opportunity to participate in the proceedings of Parliament. Undoubtedly, the political inclination of both of them has been separatist, but they have taken an oath to maintain the unity and integrity of the country and work within the framework of the Constitution and democracy after contesting the elections and being elected, which is why they should be given the right to participate in the proceedings of Parliament as per democratic requirements. At the same time, both belong to two major minority communities and if they are deprived of democratic rights in this way, it will not send a good message about India at the international level.
