He was charged with the conspiracy to
assassinate Indira Gandhi. He was arrested on 29 November 1984 and spent five years in Bhagalpur prison.
Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha 1989–1991 He was elected
in absentia to the
Lok Sabha representing the constituency of
Tarn Taran by an overwhelming majority, and unconditionally released "in the interests of the State" in November 1989, with all charges dropped. By this time he had spent five years in prison. In 1990, Mann insisted on bearing his
Kirpan (small sword) into the Parliament session, a religious rite in the Sikh Faith. The security regulations of the Parliament did not allow arms into the house. Accordingly, was denied entry into the
Sansad Bhavan (Parliament house) with the weapon. Mann decided to not attend the Parliament. He subsequently resigned his seat in protest.
1999-2004 On 3 November 1999, after Mann was elected to the Lok Sabha by winning in the
Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency, the
Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the Government of India and the Passport Office in Chandigarh to issue a passport to him. On 23 March 2004,
Prakash Singh Badal accused Mann of running derogatory ads against him and indulging in character assassination. He contested re-election in the
2004 Indian general election from Sangrur constituency but lost the election and came in third position. He remained the president of the SAD (Amritsar) party for eighteen years. In the
2007 Punjab Legislative Assembly election SAD (Amritsar) contested on 60 seats. Radical organization
Dal Khalsa (International) had supported candidates of SAD (Amritsar). Mann had contested from
Dhanaula Assembly constituency and his son Emaan Singh Mann contested from Sirhind. All the 60 candidates including Mann lost the election with big margins. Most candidates of SAD (Amritsar) had lost their security deposit in the election. Mann offered to resign after his party's poor performance. In June 2022, he won the by-poll for the
Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency vacated by then MP,
Bhagwant Mann, who went to become Chief Minister of Punjab, Mann won the election by a margin of 5,822 votes. During the election he campaigned for the release of Sikh prisoners. His grandson was in-charge of his election campaign. In August 2022, he objected to President
Droupadi Murmu being referred to as the name "Rashtrapati". He said, "I strongly believe Rashtrapati word is an insult to a woman President." His comments were expunged from the records of the parliament. He asked for elections in the
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of Sikhs. He lost the
Sangrur seat in
2024 General elections to
Meet Hayer of
Aam Aadmi Party. ==Political positions ==