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Senior UK lawyers urge Starmer to intervene in Jagtar Johal case
Indian prosecutors are being requested to dop the charges against the British human rights activist that could breach the ‘Double Jeopardy’ rule
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Staff Reporter - Sat, 30, May 2026
- 01:47 EDT
- 13
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds a press conference at the Kryeministria, in Tirana, Albania, May 15, 2025. / Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS
Four senior British lawyers have urged UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to intervene in the prolonged detention and prosecution of British Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal in India, arguing that the continued legal proceedings violate the internationally recognized principle of double jeopardy. The rule prevents individual from being tried for the same offence twice.
In a letter addressed to Kier Starmer, former UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve, barrister Helena Kennedy, former Lord Advocate for Scotland Dame Elish Angiolini, and Geoffrey Robertson KC called on the British government to request Indian authorities to drop the remaining cases against Johal.
Johal, a Dumbarton-based Scottish Sikh human rights activist, has been detained in India since 2017 on charges connected to terrorism. After nearly seven years of hearings, a Punjab court in March 2025 cleared him in one of the key charges, finding that the prosecution had "miserably failed" to produce credible evidence.
However, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) still has several cases against Johal despite his acquittal. Legal activists and supporters assert that the cases are mostly founded on the same purported confession, which Johal claims was coerced under duress while in police custody.
The senior lawyers contended that pursuing similar charges even after the acquittal undermines the legal protection against double jeopardy.
“The prohibition of double jeopardy exists across multiple areas of international law, including international human rights law, international criminal law and international humanitarian law,” the letter stated, adding that the principle reflects a principle in a lawful system where no individual should be trued or punished for a crime that they have been already acquitted or convicted for.
Moreover, the legal experts also emphasized that there are protections against the double jeopardy rule within India’s own legal framework. Hence, any intervention from the UK government would be deemed as both appropriate and consistent.
Though acknowledging that the governments of two countries can not directly interfere in each other’s legal systems, the signatories recognised that each state has a responsibility of upholding the international legal standards, especially in cases with potential human rights concerns.
United Nations experts have previously described Johal’s detention as arbitrary and linked it to his activism. Johal’s brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, renewed calls for Starmer to take stronger action, accusing Indian authorities of deliberately prolonging the process through repeated adjournments.
The renewed appeal places additional pressure on Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, to publicly address one of the most high-profile human rights cases involving a British national in India.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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