Jagtar Singh Johal Released on Bail in India After Nearly Nine Years of Detention

A Scottish Sikh activist has walked free from an Indian prison after spending almost nine years behind bars without ever being convicted of a crime. Jagtar Singh Johal, a 39-year-old from Dumbarton in West Dunbartonshire, was released from detention in India, marking a significant development in a legal saga that has drawn international attention and sparked a sustained campaign for his freedom.

Johal, who was arrested in 2017 in the Punjab region just weeks after his wedding in the country, had been held in connection with alleged terror offences. His release follows a bail order granted by the Delhi High Court on 18 September, though it took additional time for the detention to formally end and for him to leave custody.

The case against Johal centres on accusations that he travelled to Paris in 2013 and handed approximately £3,000 to the Khalistan Liberation Force, an armed organisation that has carried out violent attacks in pursuit of a separate Sikh state. Indian authorities allege that this money was used to fund weapons employed in a series of targeted killings and attempted killings of religious and political figures in Punjab during 2016 and 2017.

The Indian authorities maintain that Johal is a member of the KLF and claim he "actively participated and had complete knowledge of the conspiracy." They have consistently asserted that due process has been followed throughout the lengthy legal proceedings. However, Johal has denied all allegations against him from the outset.

His supporters present a fundamentally different account of events. They argue that Johal was targeted because he wrote blog posts about alleged human rights abuses against the Sikh community in India. According to his defence team, he was coerced into signing a false confession admitting participation in the killings. His family have long maintained that no concrete evidence has ever been presented against him, and that the prosecution's case was constructed on the testimony of unreliable witnesses.

The conditions of Johal's bail include the surrender of his passport, which prevents him from leaving India for the time being. He is also barred from speaking to the media about the case while the legal proceedings continue. These restrictions mean that while he is no longer behind bars, his freedom remains heavily constrained.

The case has attracted significant international scrutiny over the years. In 2022, a United Nations panel recognised Johal's imprisonment as arbitrary detention, lending weight to claims that he has been held without proper legal justification. Johal himself has claimed that he was tortured while in custody, allegations that Indian authorities have previously denied.

Last year, Johal was acquitted in one case where he had been accused of financially supporting the KLF terror group. Despite this acquittal, he remained in prison because he faces federal charges in eight other cases, for which he potentially faces the death penalty. His legal team has argued that these cases are almost identical to the one in which he was acquitted and that the remaining charges should likewise be dismissed.

The bail order issued by the Delhi High Court concluded that the trial is "certainly not likely to conclude anytime soon," acknowledging the extraordinary length of the proceedings. Over the past nine years, there have been hundreds of hearings, yet no final verdict has been reached in the outstanding cases against him.

His brother Gurpreet Singh Johal, who has tirelessly lobbied successive governments calling for his release, described the decision to grant bail as a "really important milestone." He added: "It is just a first step, but it is a step in the right direction." Gurpreet has been a prominent voice in the campaign to secure his brother's freedom, working with politicians, human rights organisations, and legal charities.

The development was welcomed by politicians and by the legal charities Redress and Reprieve, which represent Johal in the United Kingdom. Dan Dolan, deputy executive director of Reprieve, said the release was "a really important moment," but cautioned that Johal still faces the death penalty on what he described as "trumped up charges."

Dolan emphasised that Johal's situation remains precarious despite the bail. "It is really important that we recognise he's not out of the woods yet," he said. "We now really need to push to get him home." His comments underscore the ongoing nature of the campaign to secure Johal's permanent return to Scotland.

Redress, another legal charity involved in the case, issued a statement noting that Johal's release from prison could not undo "the intolerable suffering caused by nine years of arbitrary detention." The organisation's comments reflect the broader concern that the prolonged imprisonment has had lasting consequences for Johal and his family, regardless of the eventual outcome of the remaining legal proceedings.

The case has been closely followed in Scotland and beyond, with Johal's detention becoming a focal point for discussions about human rights, the treatment of Sikh activists, and the application of anti-terror legislation in India. His release on bail represents a notable development, but the broader legal battle continues, with the possibility of the death penalty still hanging over him.

For now, Johal remains in India, unable to leave the country and unable to speak publicly about the case that has consumed nearly a decade of his life. His release from prison marks the end of one chapter, but the fight to clear his name and return home to Scotland is far from over.