CAT/C/46/D/319/2007
procedure. The State party subsequently informed the Committee that the complainant had
not been deported.
The facts as presented by the complainant
2.1
The complainant is a baptized Sikh and was a part-time Sikh priest in the Indian
provinces of Punjab and Haryana. Because of his preaching activities, frequent travel in the
region and well-built body, he was questioned and harassed by the Indian police on several
occasions. The Indian police suspected him of being a terrorist or a sympathiser of the
militant organization Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) in India, as well as having helped
militants by sheltering them. He was detained twice on false accusations, the first time for
over three years from 1988 to 1991, and the second time in 1995.
2.2
On 10 April 1988, officers of the Shahbad police station (Haryana province) arrested
the complainant, his brother and three other individuals without explaining the reasons for
their arrest. At the police station the brothers were separated. The complainant was accused
of involvement in a murder in the city of Shahbad and of being associated with one Daya
Singh. The complainant denied the allegations. While in detention, the complainant was
severely beaten and humiliated by the investigating officers and was forced to confess his
guilt. After three years of detention, the complainant and his brother were bailed out on 14
March 1991 with a lawyer’s help. On 19 February 1998, the complainant was acquitted of
all charges related to the first accusation, but police officers continued to harass him under
the pretext of visiting his home and place of religious services.
2.3
On 14 September 1995, an inspector of the Kotwali police station (Punjab province)
accompanied by police officers, raided the complainant’s house and arrested him. The
complainant was handcuffed and his house was searched but no illegal items were
discovered. The complainant was taken to the interrogation room at the police station and
questioned by the inspector about one Paramjit Singh, who allegedly was involved in the
assassination of the Punjab Chief Minister. The inspector alleged that the complainant had
sheltered Paramjit Singh at his house before the Chief Minister’s assassination. The
inspector also stated that he had received secret information from the Haryana police that
the complainant was associated with KLF and that another militant had reported to the
police having sent Paramjit Singh to stay with the complainant. To make him confess his
links with Paramjit Singh, the police subjected the complainant to the following forms of
torture: a heavy wooden roller was rolled over his thighs with the legs spread apart; he was
hung upside down and administered electric shocks; his soles were beaten with wooden
rods, and he was not allowed to sleep. He was charged with harbouring a dangerous
offender but released on bail on 30 September 1995, with a lawyer’s help. The Patiala court
acquitted him of the above charges on 19 March 1997.
2.4
After his acquittal in both cases, the complainant became a member of the Sarab
Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (Akali Dal), the main Punjabi nationalist party, and on 4 July
1999, he was appointed as a Secretary-General of Akali Dal in Haryana province.
2.5
Although acquitted, the police still wanted the complainant to identify Paramjit
Singh and two other individuals, who at that time were detained pending trial at the Burali
jail. In 2000, he received three court summons, but the hearings were postponed each time.
All this time the complainant was under police surveillance; he bribed the inspector to
further avoid it and moved to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh province. There, he applied
for a passport, which was subsequently issued by the Ghaziabad Passport Office in
September 2002.
2.6
On 13 January 2003, the complainant was arrested in Uttar Pradesh province and
questioned about his domicile and activities. He admitted to having a residence in two
places. Upon the request of Haryana police, he was transferred to Karnal on 15 January
3