New Delhi, 01 October (H.S.):

The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the Election Commission while hearing a plea seeking registration of the proposed political party ‘Waris Punjab De’, led by jailed radical MP Amritpal Singh. A Bench headed by Justice Saurabh Banerjee directed the Election Commission to file its response within four weeks. The matter will next be heard on November 4.

During the hearing on Wednesday, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for ‘Waris Punjab De’, submitted that the Punjab Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in March 2027 and that the Election Commission may begin the electoral process from January 2026. She urged the court that the Election Commission should decide the application filed by ‘Waris Punjab De’ by the end of November.

Appearing for the Election Commission, advocate Sanjay Vashisht said that an important issue concerning national security was involved in the matter relating to ‘Waris Punjab De’.

The court then said that the Election Commission could take whatever decision it deemed appropriate on the application, but should not keep the matter pending indefinitely. “You will have to set a timeline,” the court observed.

The Election Commission subsequently stated that it wanted to file its response in the matter. The court then directed it to submit its response within four weeks.

‘Waris Punjab De’ is led by Amritpal Singh. The organisation had applied to the Election Commission in January 2025 for registration as an unrecognised political party. However, no decision has been taken on the application so far.

‘Waris Punjab De’ has stated that if it is registered as a political party, it would seek allocation of an election symbol by December 2026.

It may be noted that Amritpal Singh, who was elected as a Member of Parliament from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, is currently lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the National Security Act.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar