OTTAWA: Three British Columbia men convicted for the attempted murder of a visiting Punjab minister in May 1986, have been denied appeal by the highest court in the province.
Amarjit Singh Dhindsa, Suk dial Singh Gill and Jasbir Singh were accused of attempting to murder Malkiat Singh Sidhu, former planning minister of Punjab on a private visit to Canada to attend the marriage of a nephew.
The three men were sentenced to 20 years in jail in March 1987 by the provincial Supreme Court.
Sidhu was shot twice on the Vancouver Island. He survived the attack and, after a few days stay in a hospital, went back to India.
‘The prosecution alleged that the murder attempt was made by four men including Jaspal Singh Atwal, who fired the weapon that grievously wounded Sidhu.
The three appellants said they were at the scene but did not shoot Sidhu. Nor did they have the idea that Jaspal Atwal was going to shoot the minister, they said.
The three member appeal court, in their unanimous verdict, held that the three deserved the sentence they received. Atwal did not ‘appeal his 20year sentence.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 24, 1990
