The Lok Sabha Election Results 2024 was announced on June 4 and the BJP failed to win even a single seat in Punjab. On the other hand, radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh won the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 as an Independent candidate. Amritpal Singh won from the Khadoor Sahib constituency by a margin of 1,97,120 votes over his nearest rival and Congress candidate Kulbuir Singh Zira. Amritpal Singh won the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in Punjab by the highest margin. However, the Waris Punjab De Chief is currently lodged in Dibrugarh Jail in Assam over National Security Act (NSA) and sedition charges. Now, the question arises how will Amritpal Singh take oath during the 18th Lok Sabha session?
How Amritpal Singh will take oath as MP in Lok Sabha?
As per reports, being sworn in as a Member of Parliament (MP) is a constitutional right of the winning candidates. However, for those lodged in prison, like Amritpal Singh, he must seek permission from authorities to be escorted to Parliament for the oath-taking ceremony. Once Amritpal Singh takes oath then he will have to return to prison i.e. Dibrugarh jail.
ET quoted Article 101(4) of the Constitution which deals with the absence of members from both Houses of Parliament without prior sanction of the Chair. After taking oath, Amritpal will have to write to the Speaker, informing him or her about his inability to attend the House. The Speaker will then refer his request to the House Committee on Absence of Members.
Thereafter, the committee will recommend whether the member should be allowed to remain absent from House proceedings or not. The recommendation is then put to vote in the House by the Speaker.
It is pertinent to mention here that if Amritpal Singh is convicted and jailed for a minimum of two years, then he would lose his seat in the Lok Sabha immediately as per the Supreme Court judgment of 2013, which holds that MPs and MLAs would be disqualified in such cases.
Reports suggest that the family is trying to bring Amritpal Singh out of jail as per the rules. Before the elections, Amritpal Singh's family made several efforts to bring him to Punjab. In jail, Amritpal Singh went on a hunger strike along with his 9 companions. But when no solution was found, suddenly the family announced that Amritpal would contest the elections under the Indian Constitution.