Arrest of Jagtar Singh Johal

The arrest of Jagtar Singh Johal is a detainment that occurred in November 2017 in Punjab, India. According to the human rights organisation Reprieve, UK spy agencies tipped off their Indian counterparts about a key man, "Johal", who was currently in India.

Arrest
Jagtar Singh Johal was arrested in India in 2017. According to the United Nation's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Johal has been detained "arbitrarily" and should be released immediately. Following their investigations, the UN group concluded that Johal's detention without trial was "on discriminatory grounds, owing to his status as a human rights defender and based on his political activism, religious faith and opinions," something Johal's family have asserted since he was first arrested in 2017. Jagtar Singh Johal told the BBC that he had been tortured and forced to sign false confessions, although the BCC could not verify the allegations of torture. The Indian government denied any mistreatment or torture in this case. Jagtar Singh Johal is accused for the involvement in the murders of Brigadier (retd) Jagdish Gagneja, RSS leader Ravinder Gosain and Pastor Sultan Masih and for funding of the terrorist organization Khalistan Liberation Force in November 2017, for which there is no judicially admissible evidence against him, despite intelligence agencies having over three years to investigate. Johal has not been brought to trial.

Johal is currently being held at Tihar jail and has yet to face trial despite being in Indian custody since 2017.

Reason for arrest
The Indian authorities have not yet provided Johal's lawyer with evidence linking him to any crimes, thereby making it impossible for Johal to be brought to trial. Johal's lawyer alleges there is no such evidence, implying that the Indian authorities are deliberately and illegally detaining Johal. While in custody, Johal was also charged with another crime.

His family allege that he was falsely detained and forced to sign blank statements and face torture in prison. Police have denied these claims and termed them "emotional drama", noting that anyone suffering the extent of torture alleged by Johal would have succumbed to his wounds. International and Sikh human rights groups in Punjab and the diaspora, as well as over 140 UK Members of Parliament (MPs), including the former Brexit secretary David Davis; the former international development secretary Hilary Benn; the father of the house, Sir Peter Bottomley; the SNP leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford; Sheffield's mayor, Dan Jarvis; the former Foreign Office minister Lord Hain; the former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell; and Andrew Rosindell, a Conservative member of the foreign affairs select committee have written to Dominic Raab urging him to do more to secure the release of Johal. They are concerned over Johal's detention and allegations of brutal treatment towards Johal - the Indian police have been accused of torturing him whilst in custody. The Indian government has cited significant Khalistani outreach towards Indian-origin British MPs for their support towards Johal and insisted that their opposition is based on appeasing sentiments of large voting blocs.

Situation as of April 2022
Johal's case had now been forwarded to the UN's Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment for further investigation. A UK government spokesperson said: "We have consistently raised our concerns about Mr Johal's case with the government of India, including his allegations of torture and mistreatment and his right to a fair trial.

Jagtar Singh Johal was an accused in 11 cases out of which he has been discharged in 1 case and has been granted bail in 3 other cases. In one of the more serious case of Targeted killings/attempted killings, the high court of Punjab and Haryana headed by Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa and Justice Lalit Batra, rejected his bail stating that there was sufficient evidence against the accused to establish his involvement in the targeted killings/attempted killings (also including instant incident of attempted killing of Amit Arora) in the state of Punjab during the period of 2016-2017. The court also noted that "funds facilitated by the applicant/accused Jagtar Singh Johal was handed over to accused Hardeep Singh who along with Ramandeep Singh used that funds for carrying out eight incidents of targeted killings/attempted killings (including the incident of attempt to killing of Amit Arora). Thus, in this way, it has been established that Jagtar Singh Johal has conspired, abetted, funded and facilitated the incident of instant terrorist act."

UK Intelligence Services Involvement
On 22 August 2022, it was reported by The Times that MI5 and MI6 staff supplied information that led to the alleged torture of a British citizen in India, apparently in breach of Britain's commitment to human rights.