Kanishka bomber denied bail

By IANS

Vancouver : Inderjit Singh Reyat, who has completed his five-year jail term for the 1985 Air India bombing, will remain in prison till his trial for perjury charges begins next January.


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The provincial British Columbia Supreme Court denied him the bail Saturday.

Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm said his detention was “necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice”.

Reyat’s lawyer sought bail because his client has been rated as a “model” inmate at the jail, thus qualifying for freedom.

But denying him the bail, the judge cited the serious nature of perjury carges against him. He also referred to remarks by the Air India trial judge in his verdict when he called Reyat “an unmitigated liar”.

Reyat completed his five-year jail term Feb 8, but was not freed because of perjury charges that could send him to jail for another 14 years.

The perjury trial springs from his lying as many as 27 times under oath while testifying at the trial of Air India bombing suspects Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri in 2003.

The British Columbia Supreme Court, where Reyat appeared Tuesday, fixed Jan 19 for the start of his perjury trial.

A jury will be picked up a week before the trial.

Indian-born Reyat, 55, was roped in the Air India bombing by plot mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar to avenge Operation Bluestar.

Being an electrician, he was used by Parmar to test the bombs intended for the Air India flight.

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