Brother of Scottish man imprisoned in India plea to foreign secretary

Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, was in Punjab in northern India for his wedding in 2017 when his family said he was arrested and bundled into an unmarked car.

He is said to have been tortured, including with electric shocks, and faces the death penalty as a result of his campaigning for Sikh rights.

The allegations of torture have been denied by the Indian authorities who have charged him with eight counts of conspiracy to murder, linked to political violence in the north of the country.

The trial began in 2022 but he is yet to be convicted of any crime.

Gurpreet Singh Johal said: "Six Conservative Foreign Secretaries failed to bring my brother home. A new Labour government is a chance to reset - and to break that cycle of failure.

"What Jagtar is being put through in India is not justice: nine trials, based on the same forced torture confession; almost seven years imprisoned without any credible evidence being presented against him.

"We know that trials in India’s National Investigations Agency courts can take decades. My brother’s imprisonment is a political problem that demands a political solution.

"I’m grateful to Lord Cameron for at least meeting me, hearing me out and agreeing to review the government’s totally inadequate response to Jagtar’s arbitrary detention. I’m grateful to my outgoing MP, Martin Docherty-Hughes, who has been a tireless champion for Jagtar in Parliament. And I’m looking forward to working with my new Labour MP, Douglas McAllister.

"David Lammy and Sir Keir Starmer have both recognised that Jagtar is arbitrarily detained. The Foreign Secretary’s trip to India this week is a first opportunity to tell the Indian authorities that bringing Jagtar home is a priority for this government, and find a way to get it done.

"Until Jagtar is back with his family in Dumbarton, his case will be the elephant in the room at every meeting between the UK and India."