Supreme Court restores extradition orders in B.C. ‘honour killing’ case
Posted September 8, 2017 10:00 am.
Last Updated September 8, 2017 10:07 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned a decision that blocked the extradition of two B.C. residents to India to face murder charges related to a so-called honour killing.
In a judgment Friday, the high court set aside a British Columbia Court of Appeal ruling that put the brakes on extradition.
The court also restored federal surrender orders for the two accused.
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Jaswinder (Jassi) Sidhu was found with her throat slit on the bank of a canal in Punjab, India, in June 2000.
Indian authorities accuse her mother, Malkit Kaur Sidhu, and uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, of conspiracy to commit murder.
Sidhu and Badesha allegedly ordered the killing after Jassi secretly married a poor rickshaw driver instead of a wealthy, older man chosen for her.
In 2014, a British Columbia judge committed them for extradition to India to face the charges, prompting then-justice minister Peter MacKay to issue surrender orders, conditional on several assurances from India.
Sidhu and Badesha successfully appealed the extradition on grounds the minister did not properly consider the substance of assurances concerning the pair’s health and safety in custody.
The two Canadian citizens were among 13 people charged in connection with Jassi’s murder. Three are serving life sentences.
Both the mother and uncle have health issues. Badesha, 72, suffers from a number of age-related conditions that have required medical care while in Canadian custody. Sidhu, 67, has been admitted to hospital for treatment of a heart condition while in custody.
