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Pizza-man gets reprieve
Harjit Singh, whose allegations had forced Canadian minister to resign, will stay in Canada till his case is decided.
Toronto pizza-man Harjit Singh, who would have been on the plane to India on Thursday, has got a reprieve after federal justice department sought adjournment of Wednesday's expulsion hearing, saying it needed more time to study what it called a complex case.
The court will consider the adjournment on Thursday.
As a result, Singh, whose pizzas-for-favour allegations last week had forced Immigration Minister Judy Sgro to resign, will stay in Canada till his case is decided.
His lawyer had sought an early hearing to stop deportation after his last application for permanent residency was rejected by the immigration authorities in November.
"He (Singh) has a lengthy immigration history and his file is voluminous. The (government) needs more time in order to properly prepare material in response to the numerous issues raised... (and) will undertake not to remove the applicant in the interim," the justice department lawyer told the court.
"It will place a hold on the deportation until the Federal Court (matter) is dealt with. The removal will be deferred until the hearing," immigration department spokesman Rejean Cantlon said in Ottawa.
Toppled minister's former assistant, Sherri Haigh, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that Judy Sgro would weather the storm and return to the Cabinet. "She's a decent woman and it's not fair. Hopefully, she'll come back strong," Haigh told the Toronto Star.
Today, the Toronto-based Human Rights Action Committee also moved the court, saying that the case against Sgro would be weaken if Singh was deported to India.
"If Mr Harjit Singh is removed from Canada at this time, an important (piece of) evidence will be lost and eliminated from investigation in that process for the ethical practices of the former minister of immigration," the group said in its application to the court.
Singh, who came to Canada in 1988 as a visitor, later applied for a refugee status, saying that he had been tortured by the police in India for his alleged links with terrorists.
His wife, Surinder Kaur, died last year. The family are converted to Christianity. While all his three children are Canadian citizens, Singh's application for permanent residence has been rejected five years over the years on grounds of forgery and fraud.
After his last application was rejected in November-end, Singh was arrested three weeks ago prior to his deportation.
