Kanishka bomber to face perjury trial

Inderjit Singh Reyat, who is serving a sentence for his role in the 1985 Air India plane bombing, is scheduled to go to trial next year for perjury.

The trial is in connection with his testimony in the unsuccessful prosecution case.

The British Columbia Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm said the trial will commence on May 7, as Reyat watched the proceedings through a video-link from jail.

Reyat is charged with lying 27 times during his evidence in September 2003 as a Crown witness against accused Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted on all counts last year.

According to Reyat's lawyer Ian Donaldson, he was working with Crown prosecutors to potentially shorten the trial, which is scheduled to be heard before a jury.

Reyat, a former Duncan electrician, could be imprisoned for an additional 14 years if convicted of perjury.

He had pleaded guilty of manslaughter for supplying parts of bomb that blew up Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985, killing 329 on board.

He had earlier been convicted of building another bomb that went off the same day at Tokyo's Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers.

Meanwhile, relatives of two victims pleaded before the Canadian Judicial Commission, headed by former Supreme Court Judge John Major, to bring out the truth behind the tragedy even if they were not complimentary to Canadian government and its interests.

The Canadian Judicial Commission investigating the 1985 bombing of an Air India Boeing 747, which killed 329 people has been urged by relatives of the victims to look into various aspects of the tragedy and bring out the truth.