Law Society suspends son of man acquitted in Air India case

A B.C. lawyer who provided the court with misleading information to help his father in an application for millions of dollars in government funding in the Air India terrorism case has been suspended from the practice of law for 30 days.
Jaspreet Singh Malik was reckless in disregarding his duty to the court, and ignored the serious consequences for the public and the court, a three-member panel of The Law Society of B.C. stated in a ruling issued Wednesday.
However the panel was not persuaded that Mr. Malik did what he did for personal gain.
“It is hard not to think that his recklessness resulted from his inability, likely due to his inexperience at the Bar, to choose his duty to the Court over a duty he believed he owed to family,” the panel stated. However inexperience is a minor mitigating factor, they added. “One's duty to the Court is fundamental to the practice of law and not simply a secret known only to experienced lawyers."
Mr. Malik's father, Ripudaman Singh Malik, had been accused of murder in the death of 331-people in two bomb explosions on opposite sides of the world on June 23, 1985, the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history. The bombs were placed on two flights leaving Vancouver. He was acquitted five years after his arrest.
A Vancouver businessman, Ripudaman Singh Malik had applied to the court for public funding before the trial began although he had assets of more than $10-million at the time of his arrest. His son testified at the so-called Rowbotham application for funding in August, 2003. B.C. Supreme Court judge Sunni Stromberg-Stein rejected the application. The B.C. government subsequently agreed to loan funds to pay for his defence but he has so far refused to pay the outstanding debt of around $6-million.
Jaspreet Singh Malik became a lawyer on Sept 5, 2001. The law society found him guilty of professional misconduct when he testified about his father's business affairs two years later.
06/01/10 Robert Matas/The Globe and Mail, Canada

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Air India - International Jan 2010, NACIL Jan 2010, Safety Jan 2010