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Retired judge to probe Kanishka bombing

He has no power to retry last year's verdict

Toronto: Nearly 21 years since 331 people lost their lives in a bomb blast on board an Air India Kanishka flight, Canada on Wednesday launched a judicial inquiry into the worst terror attack mounted from its soil. This comes nearly two years after a court acquitted two Sikh separatists of charges in the case.

Retired Supreme Court judge John Major, who heads the inquiry, laid out a timetable and other mechanics for the probe in an opening statement after meeting privately with about 80 members of the families who lost loved ones.

The relatives of the victims — whose demand was fulfilled when Canada announced a judicial probe into the Montreal-London flight's crash over the Atlantic Ocean — were present in Ottawa on the occasion.

The judicial inquiry was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on May 1, after consulting the families, in the wake of the acquittal of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri in March last year of all charges after 19 months of trial.

Judge Major is expected to decide over the next two months who will get legal standing at his inquiry and how much public money will be spent to help defray their legal costs. The first witnesses are expected to testify in September. The retired judge has no power to retry last year's verdict or to hold anyone responsible. — PTI

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Retired judge to probe Kanishka bombing

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