8 years in jail, trial nowhere near end: Delhi HC bail for British Sikh national

1. Delhi High Court grants bail to British Sikh national Jagtar Singh Johal in seven UAPA cases after he spent more than eight years in custody.

2. Court cites the prolonged incarceration and slow pace of trial, saying it was "certainly not likely to conclude any time soon" despite directions from the Supreme Court.

3. NIA opposes bail citing seriousness of the charges and Johal's foreign nationality.

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to British Sikh national Jagtar Singh Johal in seven cases registered against him under the anti-terror law UAPA, after he spent more than eight years in custody without the trials showing significant progress.

A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja noted that Johal had been in custody for more than eight years and that, despite directions from the Supreme Court, the "pace of the trial has not really picked up".

The trial was "certainly not likely to conclude any time soon", the bench said while allowing Johal's appeals against the denial of bail by the trial court.

The cases investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arise from a series of alleged targeted killings and attempted killings in Punjab's Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts in 2016 and 2017.

Two of the cases relate to the killing of Amit Sharma, president of Shri Hindu Takhat, in Ludhiana in January 2017, and the alleged attempted killing of Jagdish Kumar Gagneja, then RSS vice-president in Punjab, in Jalandhar in August 2016.

The NIA arrested Johal in 2017 and accused him of being an "active member" of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), which the agency described as a terrorist organisation. The investigation was transferred from the Punjab Police to the NIA after the agency said the offences formed part of a "transnational conspiracy".

The NIA opposed bail, arguing that Johal was a foreign national and a flight risk and that he was facing trial for serious offences involving alleged promotion of terrorism and separatism and the killing of people belonging to a particular community.

The high court, however, held that Johal's liberty could not be curtailed merely because he was a foreign national. "We shall impose conditions that should ensure that he does not become a flight risk," the bench said.

The court directed Johal to surrender his passport, provide his contact details to the investigating officer and appear before the officer every fortnight. "The appellant is directed to be released on bail in the above RC (s)," the bench ordered in the seven appeals.

Johal was directed to furnish a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh along with two sureties of the same amount. The court also directed him to cooperate with the trial and not influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.

He was further directed not to join any WhatsApp group or other social media platform where "anti-national material is uploaded or circulated or propagated", or disseminate such material. Johal was also directed to furnish an undertaking to that effect before the trial court.

The high court had rejected Johal's bail pleas in the seven cases on 18 September 2024. He subsequently approached the Supreme Court, which in July remitted the matter to the high court for fresh consideration.

The latest order comes nearly nine years after the alleged offences and more than eight years after Johal's arrest, with the high court specifically taking into account the prolonged period of incarceration and the continuing delay in the trials.

With PTI inputs