The Delhi High Court on September 18 granted bail to British national Jagtar Singh Johal, also known as Jaggi, in seven separate cases involving murder charges and offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The cases, probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), allege he was part of a conspiracy linked to the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) behind a string of targeted killings in Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts of Punjab between 2016 and 2017.
A division bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja passed the order (2026 LiveLaw (Del) 864), reconsidering bail pleas that a coordinate bench had rejected in 2024. The Supreme Court had since directed the High Court to take a fresh look at the applications.
The NIA opposed bail, arguing the killings were engineered to create law-and-order disturbances in Punjab as part of a wider separatist conspiracy. A coordinate bench had earlier found "grounds to believe that the allegations against him were prima facie true" — a finding the agency leaned on in resisting release. Johal has now spent close to eight years in custody, with the trial yet to make meaningful headway.
Johal's continued detention has drawn sustained attention from British parliamentarians and human rights organisations, who have repeatedly raised his case with the UK government. His family has long alleged that his confession was extracted under coercion, an allegation the NIA disputes.
With bail finally granted after multiple rounds of litigation up to the Supreme Court, attention now shifts to whether the long-delayed trial itself can move forward with any speed.