NEW DELHI/LONDON/BATHINDA: Delhi HC on Friday granted bail to British citizen Jagtar Singh Johal, who is charged with targeted killings and conspiracy linked to Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), taking note of his “long period of incarceration” and acquittal in one of the cases. News of his bail sparked celebrations at his home in Dumbarton, Scotland, and among UK-based activists who have been campaigning for his release.His brother Gurpreet Singh Johal, a solicitor in Dumbarton, where Johal’s wife Gurpreet Kaur Johal also lives, said, “The past two years have been an expensive rollercoaster, contesting bails at Supreme Court and back to the high court in India. Now, all I can think about is Jagtar walking out of prison. We have waited so long and fought so hard for this moment. Whenever evidence against Jagtar is tested in court, judges find what we’ve said all along, which is that there isn’t any.”Johal’s MP Douglas McAllister, who has been campaigning for his release, described the news as “amazing”. “Now it’s time to bring him home.”Scotland-born Johal, arrested shortly after his 2017 wedding, was named as an accused in eight cases of attempted murder in Punjab and booked by NIA under UAPA. He was acquitted in one of the cases last year.HC heard Johal’s bail appeals in the remaining seven case together Friday and said, “We find the appellant has remained in custody for more than eight years… Only 40 witnesses have so far been examined and we are informed there are another 123 witnesses whose testimony is yet to be recorded… Trial is certainly not likely to conclude any time soon.”On NIA’s claim Johal was a flight risk as a foreign national, HC ordered Johal to surrender his passport and barred him from joining any WhatsApp group or other social media platform where anti-national material was uploaded or circulated or propagated.It rejected NIA’s claim certain witnesses alleged they were threatened and that, if released, Johal might influence the trial.NIA’s cases against Johal arise from a series of allegedly targeted murders and attempted murders in Ludhiana and Jalandhar in 2016-2017. Two cases pertain to the killing of Amit Sharma, president of Shri Hindu Takhat in Ludhiana in Jan 2017, and the attempted murder of Jagdish Kumar Gagneja, RSS vice-president in Punjab, in Jalandhar in Aug 2016.The probe was transferred from Punjab Police to NIA after the offences were identified to be a part of a “transnational conspiracy”. NIA accused Johal of being an “active member” of the “terrorist gang” KLF.Gurpreet Singh Johal told BBC News, “We are still waiting for the order and a report. We expect he won’t be allowed to leave India without permission… But at last we see some light at the end of the tunnel that he will be at least at liberty.”Noting Johal was acquitted of all charges in one case, he said, “Jagtar is innocent and is arbitrarily detained. There is a lot more that has to be done from UK govt. They have not done enough.”Dan Dolan, deputy executive director of Reprieve, a UK legal rights organisation campaigning for Johal’s release, said, “While this judgment is welcome as Jagtar should not be in prison a day longer, we must now watch closely to ensure this order is actually implemented and not obstructed in any way.”
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Chris Esdaile, senior legal adviser at REDRESS, a London NGO that pursues legal claims on behalf of survivors of torture around the world that also campaigned for Johal, said, “This is a welcome development but it can’t undo the intolerable suffering caused by nine years of arbitrary detention without a fair and timely resolution.”
