Sunday, July 24 2005 11:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Vancouver: A team of Canadian lawyers will be honoured next month by the International Association of Prosecutors for their efforts on the Air India case, according to reports.

The team of 25 lawyers who worked several years on the longest and most expensive criminal case in Canadian history will be given the prestigious international award at a ceremony in Copenhagen in August.

The trial, which took place in a specially built, fortified basement courtroom in Vancouver, lasted nearly 18 months and cost over $80 million.

It ended in March after hearing from 115 witnesses with the acquittal of millionaire businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik and rural millworker Ajaib Singh Bagri.

Prosecutors failed to persuade a judge that the two men were part of a radical Sikh group based on Canada's west coast that built two suitcase bombs, then planted the explosives on flights from Vancouver that connected with two Air India planes.

Last month, a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Paul Martin marked the 20th anniversary of the bombing of Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985 that killed all 329 people aboard.