Fears Scot could be imprisoned in India 'for decades' after court refuses bail

In what has been described as a continuing and “glaring injustice,” Jagtar Singh Johal was denied bail in seven cases brought against him by India’s national investigations agency, raising further questions over how long he will remain in prison.

The Sikh activist was in Punjab in northern India for his wedding in November 2017 when his family said he was bundled into an unmarked car. He claims to have been beaten and tortured by Indian police, alleging officers attached electrodes to his ear, nipples and genitals, and threatened to burn him alive.

Indian officials have claimed Mr Johal was involved in a plot to murder a Hindu nationalist leader, but the 37 year-old and his family have long maintained his innocence. They say he was subjected to coerced confession before being confronted with an array of further charges.

In the latest development, Delhi High Court denied Mr Johal bail. According to Reprieve, which has been campaigning for the Scot’s release, the court acknowledged that his trials had been severely delayed, but ruled that this did not amount to sufficient grounds to grant bail. 

The human rights campaign group said the decision ought to “shock” the UK government into action. Mr Johal’s family has lobbied a succession of prime ministers and foreign secretaries for years in order to secure his release. Only last week, his brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, met with First Minister John Swinney to discuss the case. 

Mr Johal had previously been granted bailed in two cases. In March 2022, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana did so on the basis that he had been imprisoned without trial for five years, violating his right to access to justice. In August 2023, India’s Supreme Court challenged prosecutors to present credible evidence against him, and upheld the lower court’s order granting bail. The latest ruling, which is at odds with the Supreme Court’s order, is subject to challenge.

Responding to the Delhi court’s decision, Gurpreet, a Labour councillor in West Dunbartonshire, described it as “a harsh reminder that the system is stacked against him,” explaining: “Prosecutors are able to drag out the case, potentially for decades, to deny him justice. 

“Even these simple bail applications have taken more than a year to be considered because the prosecution has sought so many needless adjournments. His continued imprisonment is a glaring injustice and something the UK government needs to step in to put right and bring Jagtar home.”

In 2022, the United Nations working group on arbitrary detention concluded that there was no legal basis for Mr Johal's continued detention, and that he should be released.

Harriet McCulloch, deputy director of Reprieve, said: “These bail rulings should shock the UK government into action. Jagtar has been imprisoned for almost seven years, most of his thirties, on the basis of a torture confession. There is no case against him. 

“To deny Jagtar bail when there is no end in sight to his trials and no credible evidence has been presented is clearly unjust. India is keeping a British human rights activist in arbitrary detention while his government stands by.”