A Maple Ridge man whose father was convicted of crimes in the kidnapping and murder of Jassi Sidhu is facing deportation.
The Federal Court of Appeal ruled on June 7 that Barinder Singh Sidhu must face a new immigration hearing to determine whether he can stay in the country. He has lived in Canada since 2008.
A foreign national is inadmissible to Canada on the grounds of misrepresentation.
Sidhu’s father, Darshan Singh Sidhu, was convicted of offences in relation to the murder of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu in India and sentenced to life in prison in October 2005.
Darshan Singh Sidhu was one of seven people arrested and charged in India with her murder. Her throat was cut and her body dumped in a canal in June 2000 in Punjab. The newlywed’s husband, Sukhwinder Singh Mithu, was also attacked, but survived.
In 2008, while on parole, Barinder Singh Sidhu’s father landed as a permanent resident in Canada, sponsored by a family member. He listed his wife and son Barinder, then 25, as dependants.
Darshan Singh Sidhu failed to disclose his convictions, and on a declaration form answered “no” to a question of whether he had been convicted or charged with a crime, according to court documents.
The reasons for judgment outline that, in February 2015, immigration officials wrote a report saying father and son were inadmissible to Canada. It said the appellant’s father is inadmissible because he “failed to disclose to the visa officer that he had been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping in India prior to his visa issuance,” and the son “did not disclose and/or withheld information concerning his father’s conviction, thereby inducing an error in the administration of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.”
The court documents noted that without the father’s misrepresentation, the appellant would not have been admitted to Canada “so that his status as a permanent resident was predicated upon a lie, albeit a lie told by his father.”
This month’s judgment does not say Barinder Singh Sidhu was unaware of his father’s conviction.
“This is a somewhat unusual case,” said the reasons for judgment. “This is not a case where, unknown to the dependants, a principal applicant exaggerated a qualification or other fact in his or her application for permanent residence. The appellant knew of his father’s conviction and that criminal convictions were of interest to the Canadian immigration officials.”
The court documents do not address how a man sentenced to life in prison in India was able to leave the country and come to Canada.
However, Darshan Singh Sidhu, the father, appealed his conviction and won an acquittal in India in 2015. He lives in India.
In January, two Maple Ridge residents were extradited to face a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Surjit Singh Badesha and Malkit Kaur Sidhu, Jassi’s uncle and mother, are now in India to stand trial.
ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
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