HC reserves verdict on Amritpal’s plea challenging 3rd NSA detention order

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a plea filed by Waris Punjab De chief and Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, challenging the legality of his third consecutive detention order under the National Security Act (NSA).A division bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu reserved the verdict after hearing all parties.The MP is under preventive detention at Dibrugarh jail in Assam since April 2023, following an initial detention order issued on March 18, 2023. In his plea, Amritpal challenged the third order dated April 17, 2025, which the state govt approved and subsequently confirmed on April 25, 2025, and June 24, 2025, respectively.On 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. Hari Nau was described as a former close associate of Amritpal who distanced himself and promoted a counter-narrative against ‘Waris Punjab De' (WPD) on social media. Another ground included an intelligence alert dated March 23, 2025, alleging that Amritpal, while lodged in Dibrugarh, directed the formation of Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF) International Association in Canada. The association reportedly advocates an armed struggle for "Khalsa Raj in the form of Khalistan", arms training, and plans to protest at Indian embassies.However, strongly contesting these grounds, Amritpal argued in his plea that he was in detention when the murder took place on Oct 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.Regarding the allegations about the post-detention formation of AKF International, he said these allegations are "purely speculative" because he was in "strict custody" and could not have exercised leadership or operational control.Amritpal's petition also asserted that his public speeches consistently focus on "preserving Sikh values, cultural identity, and constitutional rights", and that he was active in promoting social reform and youth de-addiction programmes in Punjab.