- By Shivangi Sharma
- Tue, 26 Aug 2025 08:03 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A Canadian Federal Court has rejected the asylum appeal of an Indian-origin couple who alleged they would be persecuted in India because of their supposed political association with the Khalistan movement. The court confirmed previous decisions by the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) and the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD), deeming their claims "unreasonable" and not credible.
The lead applicant, Amandeep Singh, 38, and his wife and co-applicant, 32-year-old Kanwaldeep Kaur, had originally sought asylum on separate grounds, claiming harassment at the hands of a politically influential neighbour in Punjab. They alleged police threats, beatings, being called militant activists, and even sexual assault on Kaur. The police also made her provide fingerprints and signatures, they claimed.
The pair stated that they escaped to Delhi in 2018 prior to arriving in Canada on a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) that June.
Shift In Grounds For Asylum
In front of the Refugee Protection Division, the pair changed their account, now saying that they had become active supporters of the Khalistan cause after moving to Canada.
They shared protest photos and voter registration cards for the Punjab Referendum, which were issued by the banned group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). They argued that this could put them at risk of persecution if they returned to India.
Both the RPD and RAD rejected their claims, pointing out inconsistencies in their story and questioning the credibility of their sudden shift in political stance. The court observed that the applicants had altered their asylum claim midway, which raised doubts about the authenticity of their political beliefs.
Justice Duchesne decided that there was "no basis" to intervene in the RAD's ruling, affirming that the applicants did not establish their case. "The Applicants have not established that the Decision is unreasonable. There is no basis for the Court to interfere with the RAD's decision," the ruling stated.
The federal government, in the name of the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship, officially denied their request for asylum, putting an end to their legal application to stay in Canada as refugees.