सिक्ख कार्यकर्ता जगतर सिंह जौहाल को नौ वर्ष कैद के बाद मिली जमानत

India: British Sikh man granted bail after 9-year detention

Published September 19, 2026last updated September 19, 2026Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal has been granted bail after more than eight years without conviction. Meanwhile, India swapped its male flagbearer for the Asian Games opening ceremony over a missing kit. DW has more.

What you need to know

- Scottish-Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal, who had been detained in India for almost nine years without being convicted, has been granted bail

- India is set to replace Asian Games opening ceremony male flagbearer over missing ceremonial kit

- Counting underway in elections for the Delhi University Students' Union

Here is a roundup of some of the top headlines from across India on Saturday, September 19:

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More uncertainty for Indian workers as Trump extends $100,000 H-1B visa fee

US President Donald Trump has extended the $100,000 fee on H-1B visa petitions through September 2027, the White House has said — a move that will be strongly felt in India, the largest source of H-1B recipients.

The extension, announced on Friday, keeps a policy first introduced in September 2025 in place. It excludes visa renewals and student visa holders transitioning to H-1B status.

Trump also signed a proclamation directing tighter scrutiny of applications, instructing agencies to weigh employers' recent layoffs of American workers when reviewing petitions.

The policy remains under legal challenge, with an appeals court reviewing a June ruling that found the fee unlawful.

The stakes are high for India: USCIS data for fiscal year 2025 showed Indian nationals accounted for 69.9% of approved H-1B petitions, far ahead of China's 12.1%.

When the fee first launched last year, it caused panic among Indian travelers, including passengers who deboarded a Delhi-bound flight fearing they'd be barred from returning.

Opposition Congress party leader Pawan Khera criticized the extension on social media, warning it would make it "harder for Indian students to enter the US workforce" and could drive a "talent drain" toward the UK, Canada and Australia.

He also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his perceived camaraderie with Trump, adding: "Modi bent over backwards to appease Trump. Trump got the appeasement. India took the humiliation and the hit."

Surendra Koli, acquitted in Nithari serial killings case, found dead in suspected suicide

Surendra Koli, a key figure in India's notorious 2006 Nithari serial killings case who was acquitted of all charges last year, was found dead at a tea stall he operated in Haridwar.

Police are treating the case as a suspected suicide.

Residents discovered Koli's body inside the rented stall and alerted authorities, Haridwar City Deputy Superintendent of Police Shishupal Singh Negi told local media.

No suicide note was found and the body was sent for post-mortem examination as investigators look into the circumstances.

Koli first drew national attention in 2006, when he was a domestic worker at businessman Moninder Singh Pandher's home in Noida. The discovery of human remains, including children's, in a drain behind Pandher's house sparked a major investigation and nationwide outrage.

Koli was convicted and sentenced to death in multiple cases beginning in 2009. In October 2023, the Allahabad High Court acquitted both Koli and Pandher for lack of evidence.

Two key observations were made: Koli's confession was inadmissible, as it was extracted after a long, unauthorized interrogation in police custody without adequate legal safeguards, and the prosecution could not prove that the remains uncovered from the "open, public" drain were based solely on Koli's statements.

The decision was upheld by India's Supreme Court in late 2025.

Reports suggest he moved to the northern city of Haridwar after the acquittal. Police identified Koli through an Aadhaar card found on his body.

India swaps flagbearer for Asian Games opening ceremony after kit mix-up

A last-minute logistics problem has cost shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor his spot as India's male flagbearer at Saturday's Asian Games opening ceremony in Nagoya, Japan.

Kabaddi player Pawan Sehrawat is set to step in instead, joining shooter Manu Bhaker, a two-time Paris Olympics bronze medalist, who will be India's female flagbearer.

Toor, who is chasing a third consecutive Asian Games gold in shot put, said he only learned of his selection as flagbearer a day earlier and that his kit was still back in India.

"I'm told that my kit will reach at 3 p.m. at the airport. Reaching the opening ceremony venue after collecting my kit from the airport on time will be very difficult," he told news agency PTI, adding that he had informed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) that he would not be attending the ceremony.

The Indian Olympic Association said in a statement that Toor would be unable to serve as flagbearer "due to a technical issue."

The mix-up was one of several hiccups in the run-up to the Games, which open on Saturday with more than 17,000 athletes competing across more than 40 sports through October 4.

Organizers, working without a traditional athletes' village, have housed competitors in container-style huts, hotels and a cruise ship. There have been complaints over accommodation quality, transport delays, and a mistaken playing of North Korea's national anthem for South Korea's men's hockey team.

A tropical storm bearing down on the region threatens to cause further disruption as competition gets underway.

Delhi High Court grants bail to Jagtar Singh Johal after nearly nine years in custody

The Delhi High Court granted bail to British national Jagtar Singh Johal in seven murder and terrorism-related cases, clearing the way for his conditional release after nearly nine years in Indian custody.

The court overturned a 2024 ruling that had denied him bail.

Johal, 39, a Sikh rights campaigner from Dumbarton, Scotland, was arrested in Punjab in 2017 shortly after he arrived in India for his wedding.

He was accused by India's National Investigation Agency of financing and courier work for the banned Khalistan Liberation Force in connection with a series of targeted killings in Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts between 2016 and 2017.

He was acquitted in a related case last year by a court in Moga, Punjab, while the Delhi cases had continued.

Johal has consistently denied wrongdoing and says he was tortured into signing a false confession. A United Nations working group ruled in May 2022 that his detention was arbitrary.

"Eight and a half years of arbitrary detention without a clear path to trial is not justice, it is unlawful suffering," UN human rights experts said in a statement earlier this year. "The prolonged uncertainty alone is a form of psychological torture."

Indian authorities have repeatedly rejected the torture allegations and insisted that due process was followed.

What did the court say in its ruling?

In its ruling, the court cited Johal's prolonged incarceration and the slow pace of the trial as grounds for bail, despite the strict conditions typically imposed under India's anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The court noted that 123 witnesses were yet to be examined and that proceedings were "certainly not likely to conclude any time soon."

The court imposed strict bail conditions, including surrendering his passport, restrictions on communication and social media activity, and regular reporting to the Investigating Officer. The court did not rule on the merits of the underlying case, leaving prosecutors free to have his bail revoked if the conditions of his release are breached.

Johal's brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, who has campaigned for years for his release and urged successive UK governments to take action, called the ruling "a huge relief," the BBC reported.

"I had a long, sleepless night knowing that the decision would be made this morning. Now, all I can think about is Jagtar walking out of prison."

Welcome to our coverage

Hello! This is Seerat from DW's Studio Delhi, bringing you the big news from and about India this weekend.

We lead our coverage with the news that British Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal, who had been detained in India for almost nine years without conviction, has been granted bail.

A UN panel in 2022 recognized it as a case of arbitrary detention, putting the Indian government's human rights record under the microscope.

The Asian Games kick off in Japan on Saturday, but it's not all smooth sailing for the Indian delegation's preparations.

India has announced a last-minute change of its male flagbearer for the opening ceremony after star shotputter Tajinderpal Singh Toor's ceremonial kit reportedly went missing.

Finally, counting is underway in elections for the Delhi University Student Union, this time under the shadow of the Cockroach Janata Party protests and the collapse of a building in the student hub of Satya Niketan.

For the latest on these stories and more, follow our blog.

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