Free Scottish Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal who is in prison in Punjab: British parliament to India

UK House of Commons leader Lucy Powell has called for the urgent release of Scottish Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal from an Indian prison, saying allegations of his torture need to be investigated.Her statement on Thursday came after British MPs raised Johal's case in their parliament, following his acquittal on criminal conspiracy and terrorism-related charges in one of the nine cases against him. A district court in Punjab's Moga cleared Johal of these charges on Tuesday.Calls for govt actionJohal, who has been in custody since 2017, still faces eight more cases under investigation by India's counter-terrorism force National Investigation Agency (NIA), which are linked to alleged funding of terrorist activities in Punjab between 2016 and 2017.Scottish MP Douglas McAllister called Tuesday's acquittal "a breakthrough" and urged leader of house Powell to arrange a govt statement confirming that the UK would make every effort to secure Johal's immediate release. "He remains imprisoned, facing the possibility of eight further court cases lacking in any credible evidence and of languishing in confinement for decades. The time for my govt to act is now," McAllister said. Powell assured MPs that the govt would continue to support Johal until he was released.Torture allegedJas Athwal, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Sikhs, claimed in the British House of Commons that Johal had been tortured, "threatened to be burnt alive," and held in "arbitrary detention" for seven years. Athwal said Johal's lawyer has called for the remaining cases to be dropped, as "there is no new evidence". Given that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and foreign secretary David Lammy met Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar this week, Athwal pressed Powell for details on what steps the UK govt was taking to "bring this British national home".Powell said PM Starmer had raised the issue with PM Narendra Modi and that UK ministers were pressing for "faster progress." "We must see a full and independent investigation into allegations of torture," she said.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Women's Day wishes, messages and quotes !