Vancouver, April 14
Prosecutors in the Air-India bombing case have been given a 30-day extension to appeal the acquittals of two men charged with murder of 329 persons in the 1985 disaster.
They will have to appeal the acquittals of Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik and mill worker Ajaib Singh Bagri until May 13. They had been found not guilty on all eight charges, including, first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
In granting the Crown's application, which was agreed to by Malik's and Bagri's lawyers, Justice Risa Levine of the British Columbia Court of Appeal said the amount of material and the complexity of the case justified the month-long extension.
"It was a complex matter with a great deal of material," a spokesperson for Justice Levine said yesterday.
"It doesn't necessarily mean it will take all that time," spokesman Geoffrey Gaul said after the hearing.
On Tuesday, Canadian Parliament passed an Opposition-moved non-binding motion for a public inquiry into the Air-India flight bombing in 1985.
Prosecutors yesterday argued that they needed at least a month to review the 572-page verdict acquitting Malik and Bagri.
— PTI
