IN December 2021, high court justices Nicola Davies and Pushpinder Saini have rejected India’s appeal to extradite terror suspect Kuldeep Singh.
Singh alias Keepa Sidhu was charged with conspiring with others to commit terror activities in Punjab dating back to 2015-2016, including a plot to assassinate then chief minister and deputy chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal, respectively. “The District Judge’s comprehensive and clearly reasoned judgment cannot be faulted,” justices Davies and Saini said in their judgment. “There are no grounds upon which it would be appropriate for this court to interfere with the discretion exercised by the district judge.”
Saini was appointed as a high court judge following an open competition run by the Judicial Appointments Commission on 1 October 2019. He was assigned to the Queen’s Bench Division. He is considered as one of the top legal experts in the media and entertainment sector. Earlier in 2021, he ruled that Al Arabiya news channel, allegedly controlled by the Saudi Royal family, can appeal a decision that Qatar Airways Suit over a ‘malicious’ news story should be heard in England and not the United Arab Emirates.
Human rights is one area where he secured landmark judgments that contributed to the development of law. European Court of Human Rights ordering Turkey to pay monetary damages to Cyprus for human rights violations is one such case. This was the first instance the court awarding a just satisfaction in an inter-state case.
The Catherine Smith proceedings in the Supreme Court concerning the extra-territorial application of the European Convention of Human Rights is his another major case that made a far-reaching impact on law and the society, particularly soldiers.
He is also known for his deft handling of cases where commercial disputes, his another specialism, and human rights law overlap.
Pushpinder has extensive experience in commercial disputes and appeared regularly in UK and EU courts. His hands-on trial experience, the cross-examination of expert witnesses in particular, is highly commended. He has also developed expertise in cases related to financial services. He has worked with New York-based firms and appeared as lead counsel in the Bars of British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas in financial services and trusts related disputes. He acted in proceedings arising out of the Lehman collapse and Madoff investment scandal in the US.
Media and entertainment sector considers Pushpinder as its first port of call. His client list includes leading names such as PolyGram, BMG, Warner Music, Universal Music, Sony, Queen, Michael Jackson and Pink Floyd. The intersection of commercial law, EU law and public law plays large part in Pushpinder’s practice.
He represented the government in many of the leading public law cases prior to his appointment to Silk in 2008, as a member of the Attorney General’s ‘A’ Panel list of counsels. He was ranked in Chambers UK’s inaugural Top Silk Bar 100 in 2013.
Born in a Punjabi Sikh family who migrated from Kenya in the early 1970s, he grew up in Southall in west London and studied in a comprehensive school there. He went on to graduate from Oxford and become a Senior Scholar of Gray’s Inn.
Pushpinder became a QC in 2008 and was appointed as Bencher of Gray’s Inn in 2014. He was listed in Chambers and Partners 2019 as a ‘Star at the Bar’