UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces cross-party pressure to intensify diplomatic efforts with India over the detention of Jagtar Singh Johal.
A news statement from the Sikh Federation( UK) claims that hundreds of letters have been transferred to more than 400 MPs from a variety of political backgrounds in recent weeks, contending with them to prompt the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister to take further immediate action in Johal's situation.
On November 4, 2017, Johal was taken into custody in India. The UK government has previously acknowledged that he was tortured and that his incarceration was unjustified. After Johal was found not guilty in the first of nine trials against him on March 4, 2025, with the following cases based on the same evidence, hopes for a breakthrough increased. The acquittal was not appealed by Indian authorities.
According to the press release, Narendra Modi spoke with Keir Starmer about the case in discussions in the UK in July of last year, when the two nations struck a trade agreement, and again when Starmer visited India in October. During a news conference in India, Starmer acknowledged that he had brought up Johal's case and mentioned that the Foreign Secretary and Johal's family will soon meet.
Yvette Cooper and Douglas McAllister met Gurpreet Singh Johal, Johal's brother, in December. Both were "extremely disappointed" by the meeting, according to the Sikh Federation (UK), which stated that there was no fresh information or advancement to report.
Following Cooper's forceful parliamentary address denouncing Chinese authorities following Jimmy Lai's conviction in Hong Kong, criticism of the government's strategy has escalated.
“Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper know the Indian authorities did not appeal against Jagtar’s acquittal on 4 March and the High Court and the Supreme Court have requested the other eight cases to be expedited, but to date not one witness has been called by the prosecution against Jagtar,”
he said.
He added:
“The UK Government know this is a clear-cut case of double jeopardy and there have been 15 trial hearings since 4 March 2025 and the delays have all been on the prosecution side.”
A meeting with a cross-party delegation of MPs and representatives of the Sikh Federation (UK), which organized the recent letter-writing campaign, has been demanded by dozens of MPs in formal letters to the Home Secretary.
What steps can the UK government take next to demand release?
The UK government can escalate political pressure on India for Jagtar Singh Johal's release through targeted,multi-level conduct while balancing bilateral ties. Raise the case at the loftiest situations, including direct prayers from PM Keir Starmer to PM Narendra Modi during bilateral summits or G20 meetings.
Invoke consular access rights under the 1986 UK- India agreement to demand regular health checks and family visits, potentially tying progress to trade addresses like the ongoing UK- India FTA accommodations.
Support Johal's legal platoon in soliciting the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for follow- up enforcement of its 2022 opinion declaring his detention arbitrary, and explore warrants under the Global Human Rights warrants Regime against Punjab officers intertwined in alleged torture. Intimately list Johal as a" wrongfully detained" public.