Canada requests that four Indians be directly charged and put on trial without a preliminary hearing.

The four Indian nationals who are suspected of killing Khalistani rebel leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar will face a “direct indictment” from the Canadian government. According to a BC Prosecution Service official who spoke to The Indian Express, the case will now go straight to the Supreme Court after pre-trial hearings in the Surrey Provincial Court were halted.

If there is a direct indictment, there will be no preliminary hearing and the matter will proceed straight to trial. The accused’s defense attorney would have the chance to cross-examine prosecution witnesses and learn the evidence against their client prior to the trial starting, but this step is omitted.

Direct indictment is a particular power under the Canadian Criminal Code that is used seldom in recognition of the Attorney General’s constitutional duty to see that those who should be tried are actually tried. Usually, it is only used in certain situations that are of public interest, including when there is a legitimate fear for the security of informers, witnesses, or their families.The Surrey Provincial Court has canceled the November 21 hearing scheduled for the four accused Indian citizens Karan Brar, Amandeep Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, and Karanpreet Singh. On February 11, 2025, they will instead make their appearance.

According to officials, there is no estimated start date or timeframe for the trial. There has been no significant advancement in the legal processes against the four individuals who were detained in May of this year for the June 18, 2023, murder of Nijjar on the grounds of a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia (BC). Since the accused’s arrest, the case has been postponed five times. First-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder are the charges against all four.

According to officials, there is no estimated start date or timeframe for the trial. There has been no significant advancement in the legal processes against the four individuals who were detained in May of this year for the June 18, 2023, murder of Nijjar on the grounds of a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia (BC). Since the accused’s arrest, the case has been postponed five times. First-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder are the charges against all four.

The next appearance is scheduled for February 11, 2025, at 9 a.m. for a case management conference, the official said. “Scheduling of the pre-trial applications and the trial dates will occur sometime in the new year. There will be a number of pre-trial applications before the trial commences, but we are unable to provide an estimate at this time for the length of the pre-trial phase,” said the BC Prosecution Service official.

Several times, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other officials have asserted that they have shown solid proof of connections between the Indian government and Nijjar’s murderers. India, on the other side, has refuted these allegations, claiming that in the year after Trudeau initially claimed an Indian hand in the murder in September 2023, Canada has not offered “a shred of evidence.” The four defendants, who are accused of being spotters, drivers, and shooters on the day Nijjar was slain, are still being held by the police and have not yet been given a bail hearing.

Prosecutors maintain that “no one has been charged other than the four accused,” but they can call “any witness who has relevant and admissible evidence to give in relation to the charges.” However, they clarified that witnesses within Canada can “generally be compelled to testify in a Canadian court, while witnesses outside Canada generally cannot be compelled to testify.”

The witness list has not yet been filed in court. Darby added that “witness lists are generally filed closer to the commencement of the trial.” The case is presently in the pre-trial stage.

Ann Seymour, Acting Communication Counsel at BCPS, explained: “The conspiracy to commit murder is alleged to have been committed from May 1, 2023, until June 18, 2023, in Edmonton, Alberta, and Surrey, BC, and the murder is alleged to have been committed on June 18, 2023, in Surrey, BC.”