HUNDREDS of cross-party MPs have been urged by constituents to put pressure on the government to secure the release and return of British national Jagtar Singh Johal from India, campaigners said today.

Mr Johal has been held in an Indian jail since November 4, 2017. The British government has previously accepted that he was tortured and subjected to arbitrary detention.

Expectations of a breakthrough grew in 2025 after Mr Johal was acquitted on March 4, when the first case against him finally concluded.

The remaining eight cases are based on the same evidence, and Indian authorities chose not to appeal the acquittal.

Sir Keir Starmer is reported to have raised Mr Johal’s case with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last July, when the two countries signed a trade deal, and again during a visit to India in October.

The Prime Minister also confirmed that Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper would meet Mr Johal’s family in the coming weeks.

Ms Cooper met Mr Johal’s brother Gurpreet, a Labour councillor, and Douglas McAllister, Labour MP for West Dunbartonshire, on December 1.

The pair reported that both were deeply disappointed, with no new information or progress outlined.

Sir Keir and Ms Cooper are now facing mounting criticism that the government failed to use key diplomatic opportunities in 2025 to apply sufficient pressure to secure Mr Johal’s release.

Dozens of MPs have written to the Foreign Secretary demanding answers, with several calling for a meeting between a cross-party delegation and representatives of the Sikh Federation (UK), which has co-ordinated the letter-writing campaign.

Dabinderjit Singh of the Sikh Federation (UK) said: “Keir Starmer and Yvette Copper know the Indian authorities did not appeal against Jagtar’s acquittal on March 4, 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.

“The UK government know this is a clear-cut case of double jeopardy…

“The softly, softly approach of quiet diplomacy with India has not worked for more than eight years.”

He called on the government to “apply maximum pressure” to negotiate his release or “publicly call out the Indian authorities if they are not listening.”