Sikh groups seek prosecution of Sukhbir Badal in Canada

WASHINGTON: Having failed multiple times to nail Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, North American Sikh groups have now sought prosecution of his son Sukhbir in a Canadian court in an alleged case of human rights violation.

Sukhbir is scheduled to visit Canada in September to hold meetings with the Canadian officials and business leaders.

The case against Sukhbir, the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, will be filed by the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and Canadian Sikh Coalition (CSC), a non-governmental organisation representing over 50 Sikh Gurdwaras and societies.

This follows after the New York-based SFJ repeatedly failed to have a similar case filed against Parkash Singh Badal in a US court.

SFJ and CSC have alleged that several Sikh Canadians were abducted, tortured and extra judicially killed by Indian security forces for actively campaigning for Sikh rights.

SFJ and CSC are seeking the prosecution and arrest warrants for Sukhbir during his upcoming visit to Canada under the Criminal Code of Canada Section 269.1, which provides that "every official, or every person acting at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of an official, who inflicts torture on any other person is guilty of an indictable offence".

The Criminal Code of Canada section 7 grants extra territorial jurisdiction to Canadian Courts to prosecute any visiting foreigner on the charges of the torture of Canadian Citizens.