Scottish Sikh Activist Jagtar Singh Johal Released on Bail After Nearly Nine Years in Indian Custody

Jagtar Singh Johal, a Scottish Sikh activist from Dumbarton, has been released from prison in India after being held for almost nine years without a conviction, in a case that has drawn international attention and sparked a long-running campaign by his family and supporters.

The 39-year-old walked free from detention after being granted bail by the Delhi High Court on 18 September, though his release only materialised now. As part of his bail conditions, Johal has been required to surrender his passport and is prohibited from speaking to the media about the proceedings against him.

Johal was arrested in the Punjab region in 2017, just weeks after his wedding in the country. Indian authorities accuse him of involvement in a series of targeted killings of religious and political figures — allegations he has consistently denied.

The case against him centres on claims that he travelled to Paris in 2013 and handed approximately £3,000 to the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), an armed organisation that has carried out violent attacks in pursuit of a separate Sikh state. Indian investigators allege that this money was used to fund weapons employed to kill, or attempt to kill, religious and political figures in Punjab during 2016 and 2017.

Authorities in India contend that Johal is a member of the KLF and that he "actively participated and had complete knowledge of the conspiracy." However, his supporters present a very different account, arguing that he was targeted for blogging about alleged human rights abuses against the Sikh community in India. They claim he was coerced into signing a false confession relating to the killings.

His family maintains that no concrete evidence has ever been presented against him and that the case was constructed on the testimony of unreliable witnesses. In 2022, a United Nations panel recognised his imprisonment as arbitrary detention — a significant international rebuke of the legal process he has endured. Johal has also claimed he was tortured while in custody, an allegation Indian authorities have previously denied, repeatedly insisting that due process is being followed.

The path to his release has been a lengthy and complex one. Last year, Johal was acquitted in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting the KLF terror group. Despite that acquittal, he remained behind bars because he faces federal charges in eight other cases, for which he potentially faces the death penalty.

His legal team argues that these remaining cases are almost identical to one another and that the other charges should be dismissed. The bail order issued by the Delhi High Court concluded that the trial is "certainly not likely to conclude anytime soon" — a striking acknowledgement of the near-decade of hearings that have taken place. Hundreds of hearings have been held over the past nine years without a final verdict in the outstanding cases.

Johal's brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, who has campaigned tirelessly and 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."

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

"It is really important that we recognise he's not out of the woods yet," Dolan said. "We now really need to push to get him home."

Redress echoed those concerns, stating that Johal's release from prison could not undo "the intolerable suffering caused by nine years of arbitrary detention." The organisation's comments underscore the toll that nearly a decade of incarceration has taken on Johal and his family, even as they celebrate his temporary freedom.

The case has become a focal point for debates over human rights, the treatment of the Sikh diaspora, and the length of pre-trial detention in India. For his supporters, Johal's release represents validation of their long-held argument that he was held without credible evidence. For Indian authorities, the legal proceedings continue, with serious charges still pending against him.

As Johal adjusts to life outside prison — albeit under restrictive bail conditions that bar him from leaving India and from publicly discussing his case — his family and legal team are expected to continue pressing for the remaining charges to be resolved. Whether the bail granted in September will ultimately lead to his return home to Scotland remains uncertain, but for now, his supporters are treating the release as a meaningful, if partial, victory after nearly nine years of campaigning.