Jailed Leaders Amritpal Singh, Engineer Abdul Rashid Takes Oath as MP

• By Thetripurapost Desk, New Delhi
• Jul 05, 2024
• 291

Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, and Khalistan supporter Amritpal Singh, lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh Jail, took oath as MPs on Friday (July 5). Both came out on parole and took oath in Parliament House.

56-year-old engineer Rashid was granted two hours parole from Tihar Jail to take oath. Whereas, 31-year-old Amritpal Singh has been granted 4 days parole. 

However, after meeting the family, both of them has been taken back to Tihar and Dibrugarh jail accordingly.

Rashid won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla seat in Jammu and Kashmir while in jail. Amritpal won the Lok Sabha elections from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab. Due to being in jail, both of them could not take oath with other MPs on 24 and 25 June in the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. 

It is necessary for a new MP to take oath within 60 days. If this is not done, his membership can be lost.

Delhi Police arranged a meeting of Amritpal with his family after taking oath in Parliament. For this, his family is being brought to the safe house. Here the Khadoor Sahib MP will meet his family for an hour. 

Security personnel appointed by the Lok Sabha Secretary General will be present there. Amritpal has been given permission to meet his family in Delhi under the 10 conditions of parole. 

Rashid contested the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Baramulla while in jail and defeated former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah and People's Conference President Sajad Lone. This victory is not a small one but the biggest victory the valley has ever seen. Rashid won by nearly 2 lakh votes. He got 4.72 lakh votes.

Engineer Rashid was arrested in 2016 under UAPA on charges of terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir. He has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019. Rashid's name came up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the Valley.

The NIA had filed a chargesheet in this case against several people including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. Yasin Malik was convicted in this case and sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court in 2022.

Amritpal Singh is known as a Khalistani leader. While in jail, Amritpal, the head of the 'Waris Punjab De' organization, contested the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Khadoor Sahib seat. He defeated Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira by a margin of 1,97,120 votes. Now Amritpal is yet to take oath as an MP.

One of the reasons for Amritpal contesting the elections was to bring him to Punjab on this pretext. Thousands of people attacked Ajnala police station in Amritsar on 23 February 2023. It is alleged that Amritpal was leading this mob in protest against the arrest of his close aide Lovepreet Singh Toofan. During this, there was a violent clash between the police and the mob.

Amritpal absconded after this case. After a two-month search operation, on April 23, the police and investigation agencies arrested him from Rode village in Moga district. Action was taken against him under NSA. He is in Dibrugarh jail in Assam. The family demands that Amritpal be shifted from Assam to a jail in Punjab.

Article 99 for Lok Sabha and Article 188 for Rajya Sabha determine that every MP must take an oath before assuming office. An MP cannot participate in any proceedings of the House until he takes the oath. He cannot even take advantage of the rights of being a Member of Parliament until he takes the oath.

Under the Constitution, it is mandatory for an MP to take oath within 60 days. If an MP is unable to take oath within this period, his seat can be considered vacant. However, there is also a provision to extend this period under certain circumstances. If the MP does not take oath without extension, his seat can be declared vacant.

An MP can ask for an extension of the period within 60 days. For this, he will have to make an application in which he will have to mention the reason for his absence.

A committee is formed to monitor the attendance of members in the Lok Sabha. The speaker appoints members to this committee. Usually senior and experienced members are included in it. The responsibility of the committee is to review and decide the cases impartially.

All the absent MPs have to tell the committee the reason for their absence. Then the recommendations of the committee are presented in the House, on which the final decision is taken after voting