Amritsar: Amritpal Singh, the Member of Parliament representing Khadoor Sahib, faced a significant legal setback on Friday after an Amritsar court formally framed charges against him. The proceedings were conducted via video conferencing from the high-security Dibrugarh Jail in Assam, where the radical leader is currently being held. Additional District and Sessions Judge Parinder Singh presided over the hearing, which centres on the violent storming of the Ajnala police station that took place in February 2023. This development marks a critical advancement in the judicial process as the case moves toward a formal trial phase.
The court has upheld several grave allegations against Singh, including attempt to murder, inflicting grievous hurt, and criminal conspiracy. Other charges involve obstructing public servants from performing their duties, damaging government property, and leading an unlawful assembly while issuing life-threatening warnings. Despite the severity of these charges, the court provided a limited reprieve by dropping counts related to the Arms Act and the destruction of evidence. This specific judicial relief followed arguments from the defence team, who successfully contended that the prosecution had failed to recover any weapons from the accused to justify those particular counts.
The 2023 incident, which eventually triggered a massive state-wide crackdown and the invocation of the National Security Act, involved hundreds of Singh’s supporters breaking through police barricades to demand the release of an associate. While the defence counsel, Ritu Raj Singh Sandhu, has argued that the case is politically motivated and based on false implications, the court’s decision to move forward with the core charges ensures a rigorous legal examination of the events. With the charges now formalized, the prosecution is expected to begin presenting its evidence in the coming days, continuing the high-profile legal saga surrounding the Khadoor Sahib representative.
