The Amritsar District and Sessions Court granted jailed Lok Sabha member Amritpal Singh a three-hour interim bail on Friday, clearing the Khadoor Sahib lawmaker to travel from Assam to Punjab under armed escort for his grandmother's cremation.
Himself footing the entire bill for the interstate transit, Singh will leave Dibrugarh Central Jail, where state authorities have detained him under the National Security Act since April 2023. The reprieve is fleeting. Strict terms govern every minute.
The court ruled that Singh's plea to join the final rites of his grandmother, 84-year-old Charan Kaur, was "quite natural and genuine." Yet judicial relief stopped short of unfettered movement. Balancing personal grief against state security, the bench imposed an eight-point directive designed to seal the lawmaker off from public view.
It is made clear that since the permission has been granted upon humanitarian grounds permitting the applicant to participate in the last rites of his grandmother, as such it shall be subject to following conditions.
Amritsar District and Sessions Court Order
Court marshals laid down rigid perimeter rules. Singh may set foot only inside his ancestral house in Jallupur Khera village, located within Amritsar district's Baba Bakala Sahib tehsil. He cannot step onto any other street or property. The bench explicitly barred him from approaching, contacting, or influencing any prosecution witnesses tied to criminal cases pending against him.
Police custody will be continuous and armed. The order shuts down any chance of political speech. Singh cannot address crowds, speak to visitors outside his immediate family circle, or interact with print, social, or electronic media reporters. Administrative directives remain paramount. The lawmaker must follow every command issued by local police escorts if any security friction arises.
Perhaps the sharpest financial condition lands squarely on the lawmaker's pocket. Singh must cover the total expenses required to fly or drive his armed escort detachment across the 2,500-kilometer corridor between Assam and Punjab.
The bench also rejected Singh's request to attend the post-cremation ritual of collecting his grandmother's ashes the following morning. The court noted that elder members of the family could complete the ceremony without him. Instead, prison authorities in Dibrugarh must arrange video conferencing links so Singh can witness religious ceremonies set for November 15 and November 17 from behind bars.
| Judicial Parameter | Court Order Specifics | Target Entity |
|---|---|---|
| Release Duration | 3 hours strictly in police custody | Amritpal Singh |
| Travel Cost Obligation | 100% borne by applicant | Amritpal Singh |
| Geographic Boundary | Native residence, Jallupur Khera | Baba Bakala Sahib, Amritsar |
| Co-Accused Relief | 3-day interim bail | Harjit Singh (Uncle) |
| Aide Relief |
Tension over the cremation had simmered for nearly a week. Charan Kaur passed away last Sunday, but her family held back the funeral pyre. Her son, Tarsem Singh, insisted publicly that the body would remain in a mortuary freezer until Amritpal arrived to shoulder the bier. A previous court attempt to arrange a ten-minute video call from Dibrugarh had failed due to technical breakdowns, inflaming family anger.
Tarsem Singh released a video statement shortly after Friday's ruling, warning supporters that commercial flight logistics from Assam could easily stretch past Saturday. He urged crowds not to choke the roads leading to Amritsar.
Co-accused family members secured wider judicial latitude. The court granted Singh's uncle, Harjit Singh, three days of interim bail, while handing close associate Sukhmandeep Singh a two-day release window to attend the ceremonies.
Punjab Police arrested Singh on April 23, 2023, cornering him at a gurdwara in Rode village, Moga district, after an intense multi-week manhunt. The sweep followed the storming of the Ajnala police station on February 23, 2023, where armed cadres belonging to Singh's outfit, Waris Punjab De, clashed with police ranks to secure the release of arrested associate Lovepreet Singh Toofan.
Homeland security authorities moved Singh and nine top lieutenants straight to Dibrugarh, detaining them under the preventive provisions of the National Security Act.
Isolation did not halt his political ascent. Contesting as an independent candidate while locked inside an Assam prison cell, Singh swept the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituency in the June 2024 general elections, trouncing Congress rival Kulbir Singh Zira by a margin exceeding 1.97 lakh votes.
Police detachments in Amritsar Rural have now mobilized static pickets around Jallupur Khera to enforce the three-hour timeline the moment transit flights touch down in Punjab.
| 2-day interim bail |
| Sukhmandeep Singh (Associate) |
| Digital Attendance | Video-conferencing access (Nov 15 & 17) | Dibrugarh Central Jail |