Gurpreet Singh Johal, a Labour councillor in Dumbarton, has written to the Home Office asking why he is being repeatedly stopped at UK airports. He believes the stops may be linked to his legal efforts to determine whether British intelligence played a role in his brother's arrest in India eight years ago.
His brother, Jagtar Singh Johal, a British Sikh, has been held in an Indian jail since 2017 without a full trial. A UK court hearing is due in a few weeks, where Jagtar's lawyers, including from the legal organisation Reprieve, will seek to discover if he was arrested after a tipoff by British intelligence. Much of the hearing is expected to be held in closed session.
Gurpreet said he has been stopped four times in the last two years when returning to the UK from holiday: at Heathrow in November 2023, twice at Glasgow airport in April and July 2024, and once in July 2025. Each time he was told at the e-gates to 'seek assistance', leading to inquiries. Neither the Home Office nor Police Scotland have provided explanations.
Jagtar's legal team argues that a member of the British intelligence services appears to be the individual described anonymously in the 2020 annual report by the UK's Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office (IPCO), which detailed how MI5 and MI6 passed information to foreign authorities about a British national who was then detained and tortured. The report said the case was raised by the then UK prime minister with Indian authorities; Theresa May is known to have raised Jagtar's case in 2018 with Narendra Modi.
Gurpreet's rare legal tort claim against the British intelligence services is due to reach court on 6 October. He said: 'Being stopped this number of times, sometimes for long periods without proper explanation is concerning. It will certainly not lead to me dropping the case against the British intelligence services.' The Home Office has refused an explanation for the stops, citing data protection.
