UK – The Standard, June 03, 2026
Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, was arrested by Indian authorities in 2017 just weeks after his wedding, and has been detained there
A British man imprisoned in India for more than eight years has said he is “stuck in a broken country with a broken judicial system”, as Yvette Cooper faces calls from his family and his MP to bring him home during her visit there this week.
Jagtar Singh Johal, 39, from Dumbarton, near Glasgow, was arrested by Indian authorities in 2017, just weeks after his wedding in the country, and has been detained ever since.
He was acquitted last year in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting a terror group, but he still faces federal charges by the Indian authorities related to the same allegations.
A group of UN experts have said Mr Johal’s imprisonment is an example of arbitrary detention, where a person is jailed without a legal basis, and said he has endured “a form of psychological torture”.
Foreign Secretary Ms Cooper is in India this week for talks on global security, following a visit to China.
Mr Johal was told about the senior Cabinet minister’s forthcoming visit to Delhi by consular staff during a recent visit.
He was said to have replied with a message for the Foreign Secretary, telling them: “I’m stuck in a broken country with a broken judicial system.”
Ms Cooper is due to meet her Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on Thursday.
Ahead of that meeting, Mr Johal’s Labour MP, Douglas McAllister, is among those who said it will not be enough for Ms Cooper to simply raise his case with the Indian government.
