Jagtar Singh Johal, a Scot from Dumbarton arrested in India in 2017 over alleged terrorism offences, walked out of prison on bail on 1 October 2026. He has not been acquitted in the cases covered by the bail order: several proceedings remain ongoing.
When was Jagtar Singh Johal released?
The release came after a Delhi High Court bail order and did not happen on the day the order was reported.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Johal was arrested in India, weeks after his wedding, over alleged terrorism offences. |
| 18 September 2026 | ITV News reported that the Delhi High Court had overturned an earlier decision and granted bail in seven cases. |
| 1 October 2026 | Johal walked free from prison. The Irish News, reporting for the Press Association, said his family had brought a habeas corpus petition before his release. |
The Irish News/Press Association Scotland and ITV News described his detention as lasting nearly nine years without conviction in the terror-related cases at issue.
Does bail mean the case is over?
No. Bail allowed Johal to leave prison while legal proceedings continued; it was not an acquittal. He remained on trial in several cases, which the Irish News/Press Association reported could carry the death penalty.
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A separate case accusing him of financially supporting a terror group ended in an acquittal the previous year. That outcome did not dispose of all the other proceedings: the Irish News/Press Association reported that federal charges involving similar allegations remained.
What are Johal’s bail conditions?
Johal’s supporters said he had to surrender his passport and was subject to restrictive conditions. The contemporaneous reports do not provide the complete written terms, a full list of pending counts, or the High Court’s reasoning. The exact restrictions and the full scope of the remaining cases therefore cannot be established from those reports.
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Scottish First Minister John Swinney welcomed the release, saying: “It’s a significant step forward and a welcomed one.” He said the Scottish Government had consistently called for Johal’s release and raised concerns about his prolonged detention, including in light of findings by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
UN experts characterized Johal’s imprisonment as arbitrary detention and described it as “a form of psychological torture,” according to the Irish News/Press Association. Indian authorities have denied the torture claim and said due process was being followed. These are competing attributed positions; the reports do not resolve them.
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Reprieve deputy executive director Dan Dolan said the release did not remove the risk Johal faced: “While tonight is the first night in almost nine years that Jagtar Singh Johal is not caged in a prison cell, he still has the threat of a death sentence hanging over him.” His brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, said he had not dared believe the release until he saw Jagtar leave the prison gates.
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