THE Delhi High Court on Friday (18) granted bail to British Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal in all seven cases under the anti-terror law, bringing a significant turn in a case that has run for more than eight years and drawn sustained attention from Britain's Sikh community.
A bench of justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja said Johal had been in custody for more than eight years and that, despite directions from the Supreme Court, the pace of the trial had not picked up and was "certainly not likely to conclude any time soon."
Johal was arrested in 2017, and the bench found that continued detention could not be justified when there was no realistic prospect of the trial concluding.
The bench also rejected the idea that his liberty could be curtailed simply because he was a foreign national, stating it would instead impose conditions to address any flight risk.
Allegations against Johal
The National Investigation Agency's cases against Johal stem from a series of allegedly targeted killings and attempted killings in Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts of Punjab in 2016–2017.
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 murder of Jagdish Kumar Gagneja, the RSS vice-president in Punjab, in August 2016.
The NIA has accused Johal of being an "active member" of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), which it designates a terrorist organisation. The investigation was transferred from Punjab Police to the NIA after the alleged offences were identified as part of what authorities described as a "transnational conspiracy."
The agency argued against granting Johal bail, telling the court he was a foreign national and a flight risk facing trial for serious offences, including encouraging terrorism, separatism, and the killing of people belonging to a particular community.
The bench did not accept that nationality alone was grounds to deny bail, instead setting conditions intended to prevent him leaving the country before trial.
The conditions of release
Johal has been ordered to surrender his passport, provide his contact details to the investigating officer, and appear before him fortnightly. He must be released on a personal bond of Rs 500,000 (more than £4,200) with two sureties of the same amount.
The court further directed that he cooperate with the trial and not influence or tamper with evidence or witnesses.
He has also been barred from joining any WhatsApp group or other social media platform where "anti-national material is uploaded or circulated or propagated," or from disseminating such content himself, and must submit a formal undertaking to that effect before the trial court.
The high court had previously refused Johal bail in the same seven cases on September 18, 2024 — exactly a year before Friday's ruling. He appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which in July remitted the matter back to the Delhi High Court for fresh consideration, leading to Friday's order.
