Jagtar Singh Johal, a British national who spent around nine years in jail in India in connection with targeted killings in Punjab, was Friday granted bail by the Delhi High Court in seven cases against him.

Johal, 38, who was arrested in Punjab in November 2017, had already been acquitted in one case in March 2025. Friday’s order — which came after the Supreme Court sent his bail pleas to the Delhi High Court for fresh consideration — clears the way for his release.

Johal’s case had attracted attention not only in India but abroad as well. In May 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said Johal had been arbitrarily detained. The next month, Boris Johnson, who was then the UK Prime Minister, also said the same.

Story continues below.
Subscribe to see fewer ads.

Among those raising concerns in India were Bhagwant Singh Mann, who is now Punjab Chief Minister, the Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

Who was Johal? Why did his case attract global attention? We explain

Who is Jagtar Singh Johal and how did he land in jail?

Johal was a UK citizen from Dumbarton, Scotland. According to his family, he was involved in Sikh-related activism, including translating and documenting accounts concerning alleged persecution of Sikhs in India.

Story continues below this ad

He came to Punjab in October 2017 and married a Punjabi woman that month. On November 4, he was picked up by the Punjab Police in Jalandhar’s Raman Mandi area. His family had said at the time that the newly married couple was preparing to travel abroad.

The arrest came in connection with a case relating to alleged arms recovery. Johal was subsequently named in a series of cases concerning targeted killings and attempted killings in Punjab related to members of right-wing outfits, the Christian community and the Dera Sirsa.

The November 2017 arrest eventually turned into an around nine-year legal battle.

What are the allegations against him?

The prosecution’s case is that a series of killings and attempted killings that took place in Punjab in 2016-17 were part of a wider conspiracy linked to the banned Khalistan Liberation Force, or KLF.

Story continues below this ad

The prosecution alleged that the attacks were carried out by operatives such as Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh.

Johal’s role, according to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), was not that of a shooter but of a financier and courier who helped facilitate the conspiracy.

UK citizen Jagtar Singh Johal in December 2017, a month after his arrest in Punjab. (Jasbir Malhi/file)

The agency has alleged that Johal travelled from the UK to France and delivered around £3,000 to KLF-linked operative Gursharan Singh. The money was allegedly handed over to Harminder Singh alias Mintoo in Paris and subsequently passed to Hardeep Singh.

According to the prosecution, the money was intended to motivate and support Hardeep Singh and facilitate the recruitment and execution of the alleged targeted killings.

Johal denied the allegations.

What case was he earlier acquitted in?

Story continues below this ad

In March 2025, a Moga court acquitted Johal and seven others in a Punjab Police case involving allegations of terror funding and related offences. It was the first of the cases against Johal to reach a verdict.

The acquittal meant that Johal was no longer required to face custody in that case. But several other cases were still pending against him.

His lawyer, Jaspal Singh Manjhpur, has said that a total of 11 cases had been registered against Johal in India — eight investigated by the NIA, two by the Punjab Police and one by the Delhi Police Special Cell.

According to Manjhpur, chargesheets had been filed in all the cases. Johal had already secured bail in three cases, but the seven cases that remained before the Delhi High Court were crucial to his continued detention. On Friday, he got bail in all seven cases.

Story continues below this ad

“The immediate significance of today’s order is that Johal has now secured bail in the seven cases that had continued to keep him in custody. Now he can come out of (Tihar) jail after nine years,” said advocate Manjhpur.

However, he cannot leave the country without the court’s permission. Manjhpur said the defence would continue contesting the cases.

What happened to his bail pleas before the latest order?

Earlier, a trial court rejected bail in all seven cases. Five bail applications were rejected on September 7, 2022, while the remaining two were rejected on April 25, 2024.

Story continues below this ad

The matter subsequently reached the Delhi High Court, which rejected Johal’s bail pleas on September 18, 2024.

His legal team then approached the Supreme Court. On July 15, 2026, the Supreme Court remanded the bail matters to the Delhi High Court for fresh consideration.

The High Court reconsidered the pleas and, on Friday, September 18, granted Johal bail in all seven cases. The detailed reasons for the High Court’s decision will be clear once the written order is available.