Inderjit Singh Reyat waits outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on September 10, 2010. Reyat is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn a perjury conviction for his testimony at the Air India bombing trial, further prolonging a saga that began with the deaths of 329 people in the skies over the Atlantic Ocean nearly three decades ago.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
October 15, 2012 - 4:12 PM
VANCOUVER - Air India bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn a perjury conviction related to his testimony at the trial for two men acquitted in the case.
Reyat's lawyer has filed a notice with the country's highest court asking for leave to appeal his conviction, which was upheld by the B.C. Court of Appeal earlier this year.
Reyat was convicted of lying at the 2003 trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were ultimately acquitted on charges connected to the 1985 bombing that killed 329 people.
Reyat, who earlier pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case, was sentenced to nine years for his perjury conviction — believed to be the longest perjury sentence in Canadian history.
The notice to the Supreme Court of Canada argues the trial judge made a mistake in his instructions to the jury.
It's an argument the B.C. Appeal Court unanimously rejected earlier this year, when a three-judge panel upheld Reyat's conviction and sentence.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012