Jagtar Singh Johal has been released from Tihar Jail after nearly nine years in Indian custody.
The Delhi High Court granted Johal bail in seven NIA cases after citing his prolonged detention and slow trials.
Johal remains accused in the seven cases and his bail does not amount to an acquittal.
Jagtar Singh Johal, a British Sikh national detained in India since 2017, was released from Tihar Jail in Delhi on Thursday after the Delhi High Court granted him bail in seven cases arising from alleged terror conspiracies and killings in Punjab.
Johal, 39, was granted bail on September 18 in seven cases being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), but remained in custody even after the bail conditions were fulfilled. His lawyers later moved the High Court through a habeas corpus petition challenging his continued detention. The court ordered his release and warned that continued detention despite its bail order could lead to contempt proceedings.
Why was Jagtar Singh Johal arrested?
Johal, from Dumbarton, Scotland, travelled to Punjab in 2017 for his wedding and was arrested on November 4 that year. He was subsequently named as an accused in cases concerning a series of killings and attempted killings in Punjab that investigators allege were part of a wider conspiracy.
The prosecution has alleged that Johal was involved in funding the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), an organisation accused of carrying out targeted attacks in Punjab. It alleges that he travelled from the UK to France in 2013 to deliver £3,000 to KLF figure Harminder Singh Mintoo. Johal has denied the allegations.
The seven NIA cases before the Delhi High Court include charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Arms Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Johal was acquitted in March 2025 in another case. The Delhi High Court said that acquittal had “strong persuasive value” in the bail proceedings because Johal was being implicated as a co-conspirator in the pending cases on similar allegations. The Moga court had acquitted him both on the ground of an invalid UAPA sanction and on the merits. The acquittal has attained finality and was not challenged by the prosecution.
Why was he granted bail and why was his release delayed?
The Delhi High Court's September 18 order focused on Johal's prolonged incarceration and the likelihood that the trials would take years to conclude. The court noted that he had spent more than eight years in custody, while only 40 prosecution witnesses had been examined and another 123 remained. Around 63 witnesses were common to the different cases.
The court also noted that the pace of proceedings had not picked up despite repeated Supreme Court directions to expedite the trials.
The court also declined to deny bail over allegations that witnesses had been threatened, noting that no material before it linked the alleged threats to Johal or showed they were made at his direction. The testimony of a protected witness had still not been recorded, and the court said the proceedings were unlikely to conclude in the near future.
In July 2026, the Supreme Court set aside an earlier Delhi High Court order and remitted Johal's bail appeals for fresh consideration on merits. The High Court then considered the length of his detention, the progress of the trials and the circumstances of his earlier acquittal.
His bail conditions include a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties of the same amount, surrender of his passport and reporting to the investigating officer every fortnight. He cannot contact or influence prosecution witnesses and is barred from making public statements about the merits of the case, evidence, witnesses or pending trial.
Despite the September 18 order, Johal was not immediately released. His lawyers challenged his continued detention before the High Court, which ordered his release on October 1. He walked out of Tihar after nearly nine years in custody. Johal remains subject to the bail conditions while the seven cases are pending. His release on bail does not amount to an acquittal.
