The trial of four men arrested for the June 18, 2023 murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on the grounds of a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia (BC), has not made much progress.
The case was adjourned five times since May this year, when the suspects were arrested. It is now scheduled to begin on November 21.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other officials have repeatedly stated that they have provided concrete and irrefutable evidence of links between Nijjar’s killers and the Indian government. India said there was “little evidence” provided by Canada last year, since Trudeau first accused India of involvement in the September 2023 killings.
All four suspects, suspected of playing the role of shooters, drivers and witnesses on the day Nijjar was killed, are still being held at the police station. This is what has happened since they were arrested.
ON MAY 3, 2024, Karan Brar (22), Kamalpreet Singh (22), and Karanpreet Singh (28), were arrested in Edmonton, the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta.
All three men have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the Nijjar case. Police say they were traveling from Edmonton to Surrey to commit the murder.
None of these men were previously known to the police, Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, the officer in charge of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), told reporters at the BC headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Surrey.
Later that day, RCMP Assistant Commissioner David Teboul said the investigation involved “an investigation into the connection with the Government of India”, and was “not limited to the involvement of the people arrested today”.
According to the RCMP, all three men had come to Canada on non-permanent visas in the past three to five years, and were residents of Edmonton.
Karan, originally from Kotkapura in Punjab, came to Canada on a student visa in 2019, as a teenager. Canadian media reported that Bow Valley College in Calgary said one Karan Brar enrolled in 2020 for an eight-month health clerk course, but could not say whether he attended the classes or completed the program.
Kamalpreet also, came to Edmonton in 2019, where his sister lives. Karanpreet was his friend, and he lived with him at home. Karan met the two at Kamalpreet’s sister’s wedding in 2023.
FOUR days later, on May 7, the three men, dressed in orange jumpsuits, appeared before BC Provincial Court judge Delaram Jahani. The Provincial Court is the first level of court in BC, below the Supreme Court and the highest court in the province, the Court of Appeal.
Karan and Karanpreet agreed through their lawyers that they will appear next on May 21. Malpreet sought a lawyer, and another date was set for him to represent her.
Karanpreet’s lawyer, Jay Michi, said the defense attorney is starting to enter the “big talk” of the State’s disclosure to find out what can be challenged in court. He said the process will take time.
A fourth suspect, Amandeep Singh (22), was arrested in Brampton, Ontario, on May 11. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that three weeks before Nijjar was shot, Amandeep was charged by Surrey RCMP with dangerous driving and fleeing police.
Court documents show that Amandeep had signed an agreement on June 6, 2023, agreeing to appear in court. He also revealed that he does not have any guns.
Twelve days later, Amandeep allegedly opened fire on Nijjar in the BC gurdwara parking lot. According to court testimony, a few hours before he was shot, he was seen near the gurdwara, allegedly behaving erratically.
Amandeep made his first appearance in court on May 15, the case was adjourned to May 21.
ON THE 21st, the four men appeared together for the first time in the Provincial Court. Karan, Kamalpreet, and Karanpreet appeared in person, while Amandeep appeared via video link. Judge Emmet Duncan spoke to the men through an interpreter and placed them under a “no contact order”, which prohibits them from having direct or indirect contact with certain people.
The case was adjourned to June 25. On that day, the case was adjourned again to August 7.
ON AUGUST 7, defense lawyers appeared on behalf of their clients accused of video on Microsoft Teams, and Crown Prosecutor Louise Kenworthy, who asked for another to be postponed.
He told the court that the Crown was working to expose the defendants, but this process is expected to take several months. Local media in Surrey reported that Kenworthy said the defense had obtained “in the region of 10,000 pages of disclosure”, and that the Crown hoped to disclose “around 10,000 more by the end of next week”.
Local media reports said the size of the court filings indicated that the RCMP had conducted a thorough investigation, and that a lengthy trial could follow.
District Court Judge Mark Jetté adjourned the case to October 1.
POSTPONED for the fifth time to October 1, again at the request of Prosecutor Kenworthy, who appeared in person before District Court Judge Jodie Harris. Lawyers for the four suspects appeared in court, the Surrey Now-Leader reported.
“We haven’t provided full disclosure to my friends, and there’s no point where I’d say substantive disclosure has been completed,” Kenworthy said. “I will inform the court that ways to transfer the file to the Supreme Court will be considered. So those are the two things that are happening, and that’s why I’m asking for a long adjournment today.”
The judge adjourned the case to November 21. He agreed with Kenworthy’s request to mark the next day as a fixed date and not a bail hearing, “as this court has no jurisdiction to determine bail in this matter”.