Air India Timeline

It has been a long, slow journey to justice for the family members of those killed in the Air India disaster.

Here’s a chronology of events in the case:

June 5, 1984: Sikhs around the world are outraged after India’s government orders a raid on Sikhism’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Oct. 30, 1984: Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her Sikh body guards in retaliation. Thousands of Sikhs die in riots in Indian cities.

June 23, 1985: Air India Flight 182 leaves Toronto and explodes near Ireland, killing 329 people — 278 of them Canadians. Less than one hour before the blast, two baggage handlers at Tokyo’s Narita airport are killed when a bag explodes as it is being transferred to an Air India flight.

Nov. 8, 1985: Talwinder Singh Parmar and Inderjit Singh Reyat are arrested by RCMP in connection with bombings. Charges are dropped against Parmar. Reyat is fined for a minor, unrelated charge.

Jan. 22, 1986: Canadian Aviation Safety Board says a bomb brought down the jet.

Feb. 4, 1986: India also concludes a bomb brought down the jet.

February 1988: Reyat is arrested by police in Coventry, England, where he moved with his wife and children in 1986.

Dec. 8, 1989: British authorities sign an extradition order for Reyat following a lengthy court battle.
May 10, 1991: Reyat, an electrician from the Vancouver Island community of Duncan, is sentenced to 10 years in prison on manslaughter and explosives charges related to the Narita bombing.

1992: Bombing suspect Parmar, a preacher from Burnaby, B.C., is killed in a shootout with Indian police officers. Critics say he was arrested and executed.

May 1995: RCMP offer a one million dollar reward for help catching the bombers.

April 1997: National Parole Board panel denies Reyat parole.

February 1998: RCMP Insp. Gary Bass, head of the Air India probe, says in a letter that investigators will recommend charges against Reyat and others.

March 7, 1998: National Parole Board panel denies Reyat early release.

Oct. 27, 2000: Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik are arrested and charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy.

June 4, 2001: British government grants permission for Reyat to be charged in Air India blast.

June 6, 2001: Reyat is charged in Air India Flight 182 bombing just days before his 10-year sentence for his role in the Narita bombing is up. He remains in custody.

Feb. 10, 2003: Reyat pleads guilty to one count of manslaughter and is sentenced to five years.

April 28, 2003: Bagri and Malik are set to go on trial before a judge alone in B.C. Supreme Court.

November 2003: Star witness against Malik testifies the accused confessed his involvement in the bombing on at least two occasions. She testifies he confided in her because the two were in love.

December 2003: Crown shows a videotaped speech by Bagri who called for young Sikhs to rise up and take revenge against the Indian government. “Until we kill 50,000 Hindus, we will not rest,” he shouted at a July 1984 New York rally.

February 2004: A female friend of Bagri’s is dismissed from testifying after she says repeatedly she can’t recall the most basic details of her relationship with him. Authorities said she had told them Bagri came to her house on the eve of the terrorist attack to borrow her car to leave luggage at the airport. She refused.

May 2004: Crown wrapped its case.

June 2004: Defence testimony began.

Dec. 3, 2004: Crown and defence rest in bloodiest Canadian terror case. The trial is believed to be among the most expensive and longest this country has seen.

March 16, 2005: B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Josephson acquits Malik and Bagri, saying he found the main witnesses in the case not credible.

January 6: Reyat is charged with perjury on his testimony at the trial.

May 1: Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirms he’ll call an Air India inquiry to find out what really happened and whether the investigation was botched. Retired Justice John Major is tapped to head it.