Jailed Waris Punjab De activist Amritpal Singh was flown to Delhi from Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam via a special aircraft to swear in as MP on Friday morning. Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid aka Engineer Rashid too was taken to the chamber of Speaker Om Birla from Delhi's Tihar Jail to take oath as MP.
Both were granted custody parole to travel from the jail to Parliament and back.
Singh, who won the Lok Sabha polls from the Khadoor Sahib constituency in Punjab, got four-day parole for the swearing-in. He can also meet his family in Delhi. He was escorted from the Dibrugarh Central Jail to the airport in the early hours amid tight security. An eight-member team of the Punjab Police had arrived here on Thursday for the purpose and they were assisted by a team of Assam Police and the district administration.
However, neither Singh nor his relatives can make public statements during his visit to Delhi. Any form of media coverage, including videography or circulation of statements, is strictly prohibited. Singh has also been instructed not to engage in any activities that might compromise national security.
Amritpal won the Khadoor Sahib seat by 1.97 lakh votes as an Independent candidate by defeating Congress's Kulbir Singh Zira. Ten members of the outfit, including Amritpal and one of his uncles, are in jail for over a year after being arrested under the National Security Act from different parts of Punjab following a crackdown.
As for Engineer Rashid, his oath-taking ceremony was held in Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's chamber. It was attended by his family members, including his sons Asrar Rashid and Abrar Rashid, daughter, wife, brother Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh, and at least two other aides. "Attendance was restricted to those with valid identity cards, with strict prohibitions on phone and internet usage," a representative of Rashid's Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) told ETV Bharat over the phone from New Delhi.
Rashid is currently held in Delhi’s Tihar jail in connection with a terror funding case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.