Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Air India bombing convict out on bail

July 10, 2008 02:35 IST

Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only man convicted in the bombing of an Air India flight in 1985, was granted bail on Wednesday by a Canadian court after he spent more than two decades in prison.

Reyat has served more than 20 years for two separate convictions related to the bombing of the Air India flight 182, off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, which claimed 329 lives.

His bail conditions were not immediately released by the British Columbia court, the Vancouver Sun reported.

Reyat's lawyer Ian Donaldson had argued for Reyat's release, pending his trial on perjury charges.

"I am sure he will be pleased to hear the news," Donaldson said.

In May 1991, he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in the bombing at Tokyo's Narita airport that killed two baggage handlers on June 23, 1985. He was then charged in connection with the Air India bombing.

The baggage handlers died when luggage, which was being transferred from an Air India flight, exploded at Narita airport.

Reyat served his entire sentence for those convictions but he remained behind bars facing the perjury charges for allegedly lying in his testimony at the trial of two men accused of involvement the attack.

Reyat's trial on the perjury charges is scheduled for next January.

© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.