London: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper are facing mounting cross-party pressure to intensify diplomatic efforts with India to secure the release and return of British national Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been held in an Indian jail for more than eight years.

According to a press release issued by Sikh Federation (UK), more than 400 MPs from across the political spectrum have received hundreds of letters from constituents in recent weeks urging them to press the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to act more decisively in Johal’s case.

Johal was arrested in India on 4 November 2017. The UK Government has previously accepted that he was subjected to torture and that his detention is arbitrary. Expectations of a breakthrough rose in 2025 after Johal was acquitted on 4 March in the first of nine cases against him, with the remaining cases relying on the same evidence. Indian authorities did not appeal the acquittal.

The press release notes that Narendra Modi discussed the case with Keir Starmer during meetings in the UK last July, when the two countries signed a trade deal, and again during Starmer’s visit to India in October. At a press conference in India, Starmer confirmed he had raised Johal’s case and pointed to an upcoming meeting between the Foreign Secretary and Johal’s family.

On 1 December, Yvette Cooper met Johal’s brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, alongside Douglas McAllister. However, the Sikh Federation (UK) reported that both were “extremely disappointed” by the meeting, saying there was no new information or progress to report.

Criticism of the government’s approach has intensified following Cooper’s robust parliamentary statement condemning Chinese authorities after the conviction of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong. The Federation highlighted that David Lammy had previously identified Jimmy Lai and Jagtar Singh Johal as his two priority consular cases.

Dabinderjit Singh OBE, a lead executive of the Sikh Federation (UK), said the Indian authorities had failed to act despite judicial directions. “Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper know the Indian authorities did not appeal against Jagtar’s acquittal on 4 March and the High Court and the Supreme Court have requested the other eight cases to be expedited, but to date not one witness has been called by the prosecution against Jagtar,” he said.

He added: “The UK Government know this is a clear-cut case of double jeopardy and there have been 15 trial hearings since 4 March 2025 and the delays have all been on the prosecution side.”

Singh also criticised what he described as the government’s reliance on “quiet diplomacy”. “The softly, softly approach of quiet diplomacy with India has not worked for more than eight years,” he said. “The UK Government must apply maximum pressure to negotiate Jagtar’s release and return or publicly call out the Indian authorities if they are not listening.”

Dozens of MPs have now written formally to the Home Secretary demanding answers, and several have called for a meeting with a cross-party delegation of MPs and representatives of the Sikh Federation (UK), which coordinated the recent letter-writing campaign.