Indians accused in Nijjar case still in jail

The four Indian nationals arrested last year in connection with the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar remain in custody as they await their trial before the British Columbia Supreme Court.

“All four accused have been detained, and they continue to remain in custody,” a spokesperson for the British Columbia Prosecution Service told Hindustan Times.

While they were under custody of the BC provincial court in Surrey, their remand has now been moved to the Supreme Court in New Westminster. The four accused, Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh, Karanpreet Singh and Amandeep Singh, are believed to be in holding facilities in three Canadian provinces.

In November, the prosecution, called the Crown, moved for the stay of proceedings in the provincial court and is “now proceeding by way of a direct indictment,” a spokesperson for the BC Prosecution Service told the Hindustan Times earlier.

A direct indictment means the accused will not have a preliminary inquiry but will instead proceed directly to trial. That is anticipated to be a fairly lengthy period of pretrial applications given the complexity of the case. November 18 was their first appearance before the Supreme Court.

Their next appearance will be on February 11, 2025, for a case management conference and scheduling of the pretrial applications and the trial dates will occur sometime in the new year.

Amandeep Singh made his first court appearance on May 15, while the others appeared before a judge on May 7. May 21 was the first time all four appeared together in a court. All four are facing charges related to first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

The hearings for the accused at the provincial court, the latest on October 2, were adjourned five times, as the prosecution sought additional time for disclosure, or providing of the case material to the lawyers for the accused.

The killing of Nijjar on June 18, in Surrey, caused India-Canada relations to crater after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons three months later that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder. India reacted by saying those charges were “absurd” and “motivated.”