Kanishka case: Canadian court dismisses jury

Bal Krishna
Toronto, Mar 9 (PTI) A Canadian court has dismissed a
jury in the perjury trial of Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only
person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombing that killed 329
passengers.
Justice Mark McEwan dismissed the jury before any
evidence was heard yesterday in B C Supreme Court where Reyat
appeared to face perjury charges.
Under the terms of a publication ban, the reason for the
jury's dismissal cannot be reported. A new jury will be chosen
from March 15. The dismissed jury was chosen last week in a
rigorous selection process.
Reyat, who was released last year after serving more than
15 years in jail, is facing charges of lying 27 times at the
trial of suspects Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri,
who were acquitted of murder and conspiracy in 2005.
Then he had claimed that he could not remember details of
the 1985 bomb plot or the name of one of the men involved,
prompting B C Supreme Court Justice Ian Josephson to call him
"an unmitigated liar."
If convicted, he faces a maximum of 14 years in jail.
The Air India Kanishka flight 182 from Montreal to Delhi
exploded mid-air near the Irish coast on June 23, 1985,
killing all the 329 passengers on board.
The alleged mastermind of the attacks, Talwinder Singh
Parmar, was killed by police in India in 1992. PTI CORR
SDE