Scot bailed after nine years of ‘arbitrary detention’ in India

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Weeks after his wedding in the country, Jagtar Singh Johal, of Dumbarton, had been shopping on the streets of Punjab back in November 2017 when plain clothes officers bundled him into the back of a car, detaining him under India’s controversial anti-terror legislation, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Since then he has been subject to what UN experts have described as psychological torture and arbitrary detention, and forced on Indian TV to produce a “confession,” which Delhi’s High Court has now dismissed as it overturned a 2024 decision to deny him bail.

Welcoming the ruling as a “really important milestone,” a year after his acquittal on charges of financially supporting a terror group, Mr Johal’s brother Gurpeet told BBC Radio Scotland: “Jaggi will be released from prison after completing the relevant paperwork. Time to bring him home.”

Sikh Federation UK’s Dabinderjit Singh said: “We are in communications with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials to ensure they can provide immediate, on-the-ground support to facilitate Jagtar’s transition out of prison and to implement a safe repatriation plan.

“Jagtar’s case requires the UK government to diplomatically intervene and leverage the information it holds to get him home without further delay.

“It should now be entirely possible for UK diplomats to push for the remaining charges against Jagtar to be dropped.  

“At a bare minimum they must negotiate an agreement or seek an expedited court waiver allowing Jagtar to return to the UK while his trial proceeds.”

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urged a “swift resolution” to an ordeal she said had already “gone on far too long.”

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