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Khalsa retained charity status till 2004: report

Toronto: The Babbar Khalsa, members of which were allegedly involved in the 1985 Air India bombing, remained a registered non-profit organisation in one Canadian province till 2004, long after its charity status was revoked in another, a media report said here on Friday.

The Vancouver Sun report came as University of Toronto law professor David Duff testified before a public inquiry into the bombing, which claimed 329 lives, that less than one per cent of charities were being audited in Canada.

The Canada Revenue Agency was auditing more charities in the mid-1990s when concerns arose because the Babbar Khalsa had been given tax exemption status, he said.

Mr. Duff said there was such an outcry over the Babbar Khalsa’s charitable status that the issue was raised in the House of Commons.

“It was quite a scandal at the time that the Babbar Khalsa society, members of which were believed to have been involved in the planning of the Air India bombing ... managed to get charitable status in Canada in the early 90s. It was revoked in 1996, but they did manage to get it.”

Mr. Duff was commissioned by the inquiry to recommend legislative changes governing charities. He, however, did not mention that the Babbar Khalsa remained a registered non-profit organisation in British Columbia till February 11, 2004 — long after its charitable status was revoked in Ottawa. — PTI

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