Maple Ridge man Barinder Singh Sidhu is facing deportation to India due to the lies his father Darshan Singh Sidhu told about his conviction in a notorious Jassi Sidhu murder case murder when he brought his family to Canada.
According to documents filed, Darshan Singh Sidhu became a permanent resident on May 4, 2008, when he landed at Vancouver International Airport along with his wife and son.
He was on parole at the time after being convicted, in India, of murder three years earlier.
The court documents also show that the family was sponsored by his daughter, who is married to the son of one of two Canadians.
Sidhu lied about his criminal status on his application and told immigration officials he had never been convicted of a crime when he landed at Vancouver International Airport on May 4, 2008, along with his wife and then-25-year-old son, Barinder.
Jassi’s mother Malkit Kaur and maternal uncle Surjit Singh Badesha were extradited to India after more than 18 years of the murder.
Police in India alleged that Jassi’s mother, Malkit Kaur Sidhu, and her uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, ordered the killing from B.C.
Jssi Sidhu's mother and uncle believed that her marriage to Sukhwinder Singh Mithu brought dishonour to the family. They have also alleged that death threats were issued to the couple and phone calls were made from Badesha's home in B.C. to some of the perpetrators around the time of the attack.
Sidhu and Mithu met in December 1994 when they both got on a three-wheeler going to a village in Punjab. Sidhu lived close to Mithu's house and they soon started meeting.
Darshan Singh Sidhu was one of seven people arrested and charged with Jassi Sidhu's murder in India. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
In 2015, the court acquitted Darshan Singh Sidhu, who was accused of arranging the killing in India on behalf of the family in Canada, giving him "the benefit of doubt."
In early 2014, during a short visit to India, Barinder Singh Sidhu didn’t realize his permanent resident card had expired and so he had to go to a Canadian consulate to get a travel visa to return to Canada.
Though Sidhu returned to Canada but, in 2015, an immigration officer filed a report alleging he should no longer be allowed to remain on the grounds he had withheld information about his father’s conviction.
Bardinder’s lawyer Aleksandar Stojicevic maintains that Sidhu has lived in Canada for a decade now and has a wife and two children who were born here.
Federal Court of Appeal has now ordered a new immigration hearing for Barinder Singh Sidhu.