The brother of detained Scot Jagtar Singh Johal has warned that his "blood could be on the UK Government's hands" if the family's nightmare becomes a reality and the Sikh activist faces the death penalty after a false conviction.
Gurpreet Singh Johal shared his growing fears that time is running out for Jagtar with the Record after his long-awaited trial in India was delayed again for the 195th time on Monday.
Jagtar, 35, has repeatedly had to endure the cancellation of start dates to his trial with the latest court hearing again disrupted due to the prosecution not producing any witnesses.
The Dumbarton man was in Punjab in northern India for his wedding in November 2017 when his family say he was arrested and bundled into an unmarked car. The UK citizen says he has been detained and subjected to torture, including electric shocks, and faces the death penalty over his activism and campaigning for Sikh human rights.
He is accused of involvement in a number of political killings in Punjab, but a panel of UN legal experts has found that his detention is arbitrary, and former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, previously acknowledged that there is no legal basis for Jagtar's imprisonment.
Gurpeet said: "If a false conviction is obtained because of a false confession, which becomes a death penalty sentence, I believe Jagtar will be hung quickly so it's too late for anything to be done.
"It's a big fear we are living with, which we try not to think about too much, but it's always in the back of my mind that I could lose my brother.
"It's a political decision, he's being kept for talks, but the UK Government are more focused on trade deals than they are for the freedom of a British citizen and his family. Jagtar's blood could be on the UK Government's hands if they don't do what they are supposed to."
British authorities have already been damned in Jagtar's case with spies at MI5 and MI6 accused of supplying information that led to his alleged abduction and torture. Lawyers for the Scot have lodged a complaint after human rights group Reprieve identified his case among anonymised details published in the annual report by the UK’s investigatory powers commissioner.
Over the last five years several ministers have stated they have raised Jagtar's case. The latest Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, has promised to meet with his family but has yet to do so.
The judge in Jagtar's trial has now arranged for his case to be adjourned until January 13 so that the prosecution's witnesses could appear after the defence argued that they had to provide evidence for their case.
"It's extremely disappointing that there is another delay," Gurpreet added. "The Indian Government say they are going to move forward with the case but they aren't.
"I don't have any faith that the trial is going ahead, it's just an excuse to keep my brother detained while they attempt to have talks with the UK Government.
"We have been told that prosecution witnesses don't turn up at trials regularly, which is consistently showing that they don't have evidence.
"Myself and Jagtar's wife briefly spoke to him around the date marking his fifth year imprisoned, before that we last spoke to him in March. Meanwhile he has no contact with the outside world."
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We have consistently raised our concerns about Mr Johal’s case directly with the Government of India, including his allegations of torture and his right to a fair trial - we are committed to doing what we can to assist him. The Foreign Secretary visited India and raised his case with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on 29 October.
“The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle and we will continue to make this clear to the Government of India.”
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