Saturday, March 25 2006 11:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Toronto: A retired Supreme Court judge of Canada met relatives of the Air India bombing victims to hear their views on the proposed judicial inquiry into the 1985 tragedy that left 329 people dead.

"The whole purpose of it is information-gathering to find what it is that's been missing," Justice John Major said after meeting the victims' families here yesterday (Mar 24, 2006).

"Obviously everything that has been attempted has sort of ended up in an unsatisfactory way, one way or the other. So what finally can we do to relieve the suffering and . Get rid of this stain that seems to cover the matter and the government's performance in it?" Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Major earlier this month to come up with the parameters for the judicial inquiry.

Harper had held a private meeting with representatives of families of the Air India victims last weekend in Ottawa, said an official in the Prime Minister's office.

Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, the main accused in the June 1985 bombing of Air India's Kanishka flight off the coast of Ireland, were acquitted in March last year after a lengthy trial. All 329 people aboard the flight were killed in the bombing.