Scotland – Holyrood, May 08, 2025
Labour councillor has urged foreign secretary David Lammy not to let his brother “rot away in prison”.
In a strongly-worded statement, Gurpreet Singh Johal has hit out at inaction on his younger brother’s case as he continues to languish in an Indian jail.
A member of the administration of West Dunbartonshire Council, Johal has met with successive foreign secretaries since his brother Jagtar was bundled into an unmarked van by plain clothes officers in 2017.
Johal has met with successive foreign secretaries since then and the latest happened today, after Jagtar was acquitted in the first trial against him. Several other cases remain based on the same premise.
Johal’s meeting with Lammy comes just two days after the announcement of a trade deal between the UK and India.
It was hailed as a “landmark deal” by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and “an ambitious and mutually beneficial free trade agreement” by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
Johal previously accused the UK Government of prioritising such a trade deal over his brother’s human rights.
Now he has said he is “bitterly disappointed” about the lack of progress made by the Labour government.
