'Amritpal's aide Daljit detained under NSA after due process of law'

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government told the high court here on Tuesday that Amritpal Singh aide Daljit Singh Kalsi, who has been detained under the NSA, was helping the fugitive profess radical ideology and wage war against the State for a separate Khalistan.

The government also told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that Sarabjit alias Daljit Singh Kalsi was detained under the National Security Act and the allegation he has been kept illegally is wrong and incorrect. He was after following the due process of law, the government added.

The court was hearing petitions, including of Kalsi's wife, who has alleged her husband has been illegally confined by Punjab Police and sent to Dibrugarh central jail in Assam without a valid reason and proper procedure.

Relatives of other NSA detainees in the Amritpal Singh case — Gurmit Singh, Kulwant Singh, Varinder Singh Fauji, Bhagwant Singh (alias Pradhanmantri Bajeke) and Basant Singh — have also petitioned the court to quash the detention orders.

These people were detained during a police crackdown on pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh and his aides that began on March 18 in Jalandhar.

Counsel Simranjit Singh, representing Kalsi's wife, said the Punjab government filed its reply to her petition on Tuesday while the Union government has sought time to file its response. The next date for hearing has been fixed for April 24, he said.

The Punjab government filed its reply as an affidavit of Amritsar (Rural) Senior Superintendent of Police Satinder Singh. According to the affidavit, the petition filed by Kalsi's wife was not maintainable because she cannot seek relief under a criminal writ petition or habeas corpus (the requirement that an arrested person be brought before a judge) as the same has limited scope.

Daljit Singh Kalsi has been detained under the NSA after following the due process of law and is presently lodged in central jail Assam, the state government said in its reply.

''Kalsi was actively supporting Amritpal in his activities and was himself indulging in activities which are prejudicial to the security of the state as well as to the maintenance of public law and order. Kalsi has been supporting Amritpal in professing radical ideology and raised the demand of secession of Punjab from India by violent means. He also had been supporting Amritpal actively abetting/instigating/provoking/motivating/ conspiring to wage war against the state for a separate nation by name of Khalistan,” said the affidavit.

The court was told that Kalsi had made a representation against the detention order on March 24 and it was rejected by the competent authority in the state government, which found it without merit.

The case has been referred to the advisory board on April 1 as required under Section 10 of the NSA and is now under consideration of the advisory board, said the affidavit.

The affidavit also stated that the information regarding detention of Kalsi, including the date and place of detention, was duly informed to his wife on her mobile number by the Ajnala police.

The allegation that Kalsi has been kept illegally and without following the procedure of law is wrong and incorrect, it added.

Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh, who is yet to be nabbed, escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances.

He and his associates have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.