Thursday, April 14 2005 08:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Vancouver: Prosecutors in the Air India bombing case have been given a 30-day extension to appeal the acquittals of two men charged with murder of 329 people in the 1985 disaster.

They will be given until May 13 to appeal the acquittals of Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik and mill worker Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were on March 16, found not guilty on all eight charges, including first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

In granting the Crown's application, which was agreed to by Malik's and Bagri's lawyers, Justice Risa Levine of the British Columbia Court of Appeal said the amount of material and the complexity of the case justified the month-long extension.

"It was a complex matter with a great deal of material," a spokesperson for Justice Levine said yesterday (Apr 13, 2005).

"It doesn't necessarily mean it will take all that time," Crown spokesman Geoffrey Gaul said after the hearing.

On Tuesday (Apr 12, 2005), the Canadian Parliament passed an Opposition-moved non-binding motion for a public inquiry into the Air India bombing. The 172-124 vote came hours after a bitter exchange in the House.

Air India Flight 182 blew up on June 23, 1985, off the coast of Ireland en route from Toronto to Mumbai via London. All 329 people on board were killed. Less than an hour earlier, a suitcase being transferred from a flight from Vancouver exploded at Tokyo's Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers.