Her Majesty the Queen v. Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, British Columbia Supreme Court, Justice Ian Bruce Josephson, March 16, 2005 [finding the defendants not guilty in connection with the 1985 Air India bombing that killed 329 people – the deadliest terrorist attack on a commercial airliner to that point – and resulted in the longest and most expensive trial in Canadian legal history]. Excerpt:

In the early morning hours of June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182, carrying 329 people[1], was destroyed mid-flight by a bomb located in its rear cargo hold. Remnants of the plane and bodies of some of the victims were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland. There were no survivors.

Fifty-four minutes earlier, another bomb had exploded inside the baggage handling area of the New Tokyo International Airport in Narita, Japan ("Narita Airport"). Two Japanese baggage handlers were killed instantly by the force of the explosion and four others were injured.

Through the multinational police investigation that followed, it was learned that two suitcases had been checked in at the Vancouver International Airport (the "Vancouver Airport") on the morning of June 22, 1985 and loaded onto two aircraft without any accompanying passengers boarding those flights. One of the suitcases had been interlined through Toronto and loaded onto Air India Flight 182. The other suitcase had been located in the baggage container from which the explosion at Narita Airport had originated. That suitcase had been destined for an Air India flight heading to Bangkok.

A few days prior to these incidents, two separate airline tickets had been booked on Canadian Pacific Airlines flights originating out of Vancouver. These tickets, subsequently picked up and paid for in cash, corresponded with the tickets that were used to check in the unaccompanied baggage at the Vancouver Airport.

The investigation into this matter continues to this day. In October, 2000, Ripudaman Singh Malik ("Mr. Malik") and Ajaib Singh Bagri ("Mr. Bagri") were charged with a series of offences alleging their involvement in a conspiracy to commit murder and place bombs on aircraft. The trial commenced in April, 2003 and continued for approximately sixteen months. No forensic evidence was led linking Mr. Malik and Mr. Bagri to either bomb. Leaving aside the issue of the location of the bomb on Air India Flight 182, the determination of guilt devolves to a weighing of the credibility of a number of witnesses who testified during the course of the trial. Neither accused testified in these proceedings….

I began by describing the horrific nature of these cruel acts of terrorism, acts which cry out for justice. Justice is not achieved, however, if persons are convicted on anything less than the requisite standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Despite what appear to have been the best and most earnest of efforts by the police and the Crown, the evidence has fallen markedly short of that standard.

Read the reasons for judgment. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.