VANCOUVER, September 9, 2004
By ROBERT MATAS
The Globe and Mail

Prosecutors at the Air-India trial won a minor victory yesterday with a court ruling that allows as evidence an apparent link in early 1985 between the defendants and alleged co-conspirators, who were never charged in the case.

"At a minimum, [a list of long-distance phone calls] will provide the court with a broader picture of the telephone contact between the residences of all those alleged to be involved in the conspiracy according to the theories of the Crown and the defence," said Mr. Justice Ian Bruce Josephson of the British Columbia Supreme Court.

Vancouver millionaire Ripudaman Singh Malik and Kamloops mill worker Ajaib Singh Bagri face murder charges in the deaths of 331 people in two bomb blasts on June 23, 1985.

Previously, evidence in court showed that phone calls were made between the residences of the two defendants and the residences of several alleged co-conspirators between March 10, 1985, and June 24, 1985.

The court decision yesterday expanded the list to include phone calls from as early as Dec. 10, 1984, in response to submissions from prosecutor Robert Wright.

Mr. Wright made the request as part of the groundwork in preparation for his final submissions later this year in the mammoth court case.

Nothing turns solely on the evidence that Mr. Malik and Mr. Bagri spoke to "people of interest," Mr. Wright said. However, if the defence in its final submissions to court suggests a circle of people were part of an alleged Air-India conspiracy but Mr. Malik and Mr. Bagri were not, the prosecution may want to show they were in contact with the alleged co-conspirators.

The list shows calls were made between Mr. Bagri's residence and the residences of Daljit Singh Sandhu, Surjan Singh Gill, Tejinder Singh Kaloe, Charan Singh Aheer and Amarjit Singh Pawa.

During the trial, a key witness testified that Mr. Sandhu was the person who picked up the tickets used to check in luggage with explosives.

Mr. Sandhu, the only person on the list to testify during the trial, denied in court he played any role in a conspiracy.

Mr. Gill was mentioned in court as a member of the inner circle in the alleged conspiracy who dropped out a few days before the disaster.

Mr. Kaloe was identified as a leader of an Ontario Sikh group who spoke regularly with the alleged mastermind behind the bombings, Talwinder Singh Parmar.

Mr. Pawa was a travel agent who made travel arrangements on several occasions for Mr. Parmar and other Sikh activists.

Mr. Aheer's name surfaced during the trial in connection with flights between Toronto and Vancouver at crucial moments in an alleged conspiracy.

Defence lawyer Michael Code suggested the alleged conspiracy may have included Sikh activists from Toronto.

Mr. Aheer's phone number in Toronto was the contact number for the tickets used by the alleged co-conspirators to fly between Toronto and Vancouver.

The list of phone calls also includes a call from the home of Mr. Aheer to the home of Mr. Malik on Jan. 30, 1985.

The next day, two calls were made from a number associated with Mr. Kaloe to Mr. Malik's business phone.

The lawyers' final submissions in the case are to begin Oct. 18.