There’s going to be another delay before it’s known if two Maple Ridge residents will be sent to India to stand trial for conspiracy to commit murder.
A three-judge Appeal Court panel reserved its decision Wednesday on whether to uphold an extradition order or have the order for Malkit Kaur Sidhu and Surjit Singh Badesha declared invalid and unlawful.
Sidhu and Badesha were facing extradition after being charged in India with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the June 2000 death of former Pitt Meadows secondary student Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, also known as Jassi.
Malkit Kaur Sidhu is Jassi’s mom and Surjit Singh Badesha is her uncle.
A three-judge panel heard the appeal from Nov. 5 to 7 in Vancouver.
Lawyers for Malkit Sidhu, in her late 60s, and Badesha, in his early 70s, filed their applications in B.C. Court of Appeal in October 2017, stating that Canada’s justice minister, on Sept. 28, 2017, refused to accept the applicant’s submissions, didn’t follow the principles of natural justice and violated the pair’s Charter rights.
The earlier extradition of the two Maple Ridge residents was stayed in September 2017 after one of the lawyers filed an appeal, while Sidhu and Badesha were in custody in Toronto, on their way to India to face trial.
According to Appeal Court documents, Sidhu and Badesha made additional submissions in the weeks before the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of extradition in September 2017.
Sidhu was told by the justice minister that she would not be removed while the minister decided whether to reconsider the surrender order.
However, on Sept. 20, both were moved out of the institutions where they were detained.
It’s not known when the Appeal Court will announce its decision.
