A SCOT who has been detained in India for nearly nine years without conviction has been released on bail, his family has said.
Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, was arrested by Indian authorities in 2017 over alleged terrorism offences, just weeks after his wedding.
The 39-year-old’s brother Gurpreet announced on September 18 that Delhi High Court had overturned a previous decision in 2024 and granted him bail.
Today, Gurpreet said: "There have been so many setbacks and disappointments in the last nine years that I didn’t dare to believe it until I saw Jagtar walking out of the prison gates with my own eyes."
Prison officials had declined to release Jagtar, in defiance of the bail order, saying they were seeking “clarification” from the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is understood the MHA did not respond to repeated requests.
This morning, the High Court granted a writ of habeas corpus filed by Jagtar’s lawyers and ordered the prison authorities to release Jagtar within three hours or be found in contempt of court.
However, his family have warned he is still facing the death penalty.
Gurpreet added: "The last two weeks have been torture – knowing that Jagtar had been granted bail but the authorities were refusing to let him out.
"I’ll sleep well tonight, knowing that he’s not behind bars. Tomorrow morning, the fight continues, because he’s still on trial and facing the death penalty for something he didn’t do, trapped in a sham legal process designed to punish him for standing up for human rights.
"We’ll keep on fighting until he’s home with us. Now it’s over to the UK Government to get it done.”
Johal’s imprisonment was recognised by a UN panel as arbitrary detention in 2022 and he has claimed to have been tortured.
Indian authorities have previously denied the torture claim and have repeatedly maintained that due process is being followed.
Johal was acquitted last year in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting a terror group but he still faces federal charges in the country related to the same allegations.
The conditions of Jagtar’s bail include surrendering his British passport and request permission to travel to Punjab – his Indian family’s home state.
He must also not join Whatsapp groups or social media accounts sharing “anti-national” material. or must make no public comments about the case.
Reprieve deputy executive director Dan Dolan said: “While tonight is the first night in almost nine years that Jagtar Singh Johal is not caged in a prison cell, he still has the threat of a death sentence hanging over him.
"It should also be noted that despite bail being ordered the prison refused to release Jagtar until his family brought a habeas corpus petition and a judge warned the jail they’d be found in contempt of court.
"Jagtar remains on trial in cases that could last for decades and end in capital punishment, centered on a baseless allegation that has been thrown out in court for lack of evidence. His bail conditions deny him any semblance of a normal life. The Foreign Secretary should seize the moment and find a way to bring this young British citizen home to his family in Scotland as soon as possible.”
