Air India bomb maker, Inderjit Singh Reyat, loses appeal on perjury conviction

VANCOUVER – The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a perjury conviction for Air India bomber Inderjit Singh Reyat, who received Canada’s longest perjury sentence.

Reyat was handed a nine-year prison term for lying repeatedly at the 2003 trial of two men charged with mass murder and conspiracy in the 1985 bombing.

Reyat was a Crown witness at the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted in the biggest case of aviation terrorism before the 9-11 attacks in the U.S.

Reyat’s testimony was part of a deal that saw him plead guilty to manslaughter in the deaths of 329 people aboard Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985.

He has already served a 10-year sentence for the same-day deaths of two Tokyo baggage handlers who were killed when a bomb-laden suitcase meant for another Air India plane exploded prematurely.

Until Reyat’s conviction, the longest perjury sentence ever handed down in Canada was six years for a case in Alberta.