Monday’s hearing in the Supreme Court of Canada over the case involving two Maple Ridge residents who are fighting extradition to India, has now adjourned.
Malkit Kaur Sidhu, 66, and Surjit Singh Badesha, 71, are facing the extradition after being charged in India with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the death of former Pitt Meadows secondary student Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, also known as Jassi.
She is Malkit’s daughter and Badesha’s niece.
They’ve been in jail since 2012.
Jassi was 25 years old when she was found with her throat cut beside a canal in the Punjab, India in June, 2000.
In April of that year, she had already reported to the Ridge Meadows RCMP about the threats and assault over her secret marriage, saying she also feared for her husband’s life.
According to a Supreme Court summary, Malkit Kaur Sidhu and Surjit Singh Badesha are alleged to have contracted the killing of Jassi for marrying a man considered unsuitable.
In 2014, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled there was enough evidence to extradite the pair to India to face trial. A surrender order was issued on the basis of assurances from India that the accused would not face the death penalty, would get a fair trial and be safe while in Indian custody.
However, Sidhu and Badesha appealed, and a B.C. Court of Appeal judge granted that request over concerns the two would be tortured.
However, that decision itself is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa.
The review will look at the appropriate standards for accepting assurances from another country about how an accused will be treated, as well as the alleged deficiencies in another country’s justice system.
Both accused have medical issues, with the mother, while in custody, having been in hospital twice for heart conditions.
