dredank
07-31-2006, 09:31 AM
Kim Bolan, CanWest News Service; Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, July 31, 2006
VANCOUVER - A Surrey, B.C., man convicted in a political assassination attempt was fired from his job for allegedly bringing marijuana-laced Indian snacks to work which made other employees sick, according to court documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun.
Jaspal Singh Atwal who has approached a series of B.C. Lower Mainland MPs for help to get a visa to go to India filed a wrongful dismissal suit for $10,000 against Don Carr Chevrolet related to his 2003 firing.
The suit in Surrey Provincial Court was withdrawn just before it was to go to trial on May 30, 2006.
In his notice of claim, Atwal states he ''faithfully and diligently performed his duties'' and was fired without notice or just cause.
But the car dealership's statement of reply and counter-claim says Atwal was let go because he and a co-worker ''brought marijuana-laced pakoras to the defendant's place of employment.''
''The claimant and his co-worker then served the drug-laced pakoras to unsuspecting employees,'' the document says. ''Because of adverse reactions by other employees to the marijuana-laced pakoras, three employees were rushed to the hospital and the entire service department was closed down for the majority of the day, as was the parts department and the reception/switchboard department.''
Surrey RCMP was called and did an investigation, but no charges were laid.
Cpl. Roger Morrow said the file was already in storage and would be difficult to find. ''I can confirm that we attended a place of business in Surrey in February (2003) where some staffers got sick allegedly from some food that may have been laced with a foreign substance,'' Morrow said.
Atwal denied responsibility for lacing the food with marijuana, according to the court documents.
Atwal refused to comment when contacted by The Vancouver Sun.
''I have nothing to talk to you,'' Atwal said before hanging up.
But his lawyer Todd Kerr said later that the wrongful dismissal suit ''has been settled to Mr. Atwal's satisfaction.''
''The allegations that were made against him in the defence of the action were never established,'' Kerr said.
Atwal remains on parole after being convicted of attempted murder in the 1986 shooting on Vancouver Island of a visiting Indian politician.
He was found by a B.C. Supreme Court judge to have been the leader of four members of the International Sikh Youth Federation who carried out the failed assassination plot against Malkiat Singh Sidhu as he travelled with relatives on a rural road near Gold River, B.C.
Sidhu was hit twice, but survived. He was later murdered in India.
When Atwal was sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting Sidhu, the judge called the crime ''an act of terrorism in order to advance a cause.''
The Vancouver Sun revealed this week that North Vancouver Liberal MP Don Bell made a call to the Indian consul general in Vancouver on behalf of Atwal, who had his full parole revoked in 2002 after a separate police investigation.
Bell claimed he did not know of Atwal's conviction when he called and that he was just inquiring regarding the case, not advocating for a visa for Atwal.
He said Atwal was referred to him by Vancouver South MP Ujjal Dosanjh, whom Atwal was acquitted of beating with a metal pipe in 1985.
Dosanjh told The Vancouver Sun that he did not pass on details of the high-profile assassination attempt to Bell because he assumed Atwal would tell the whole story.
The Vancouver Sun also uncovered a reference letter for Atwal written by former Surrey Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal, who had earlier criticized the other two MPs for questionable judgment for their interventions on behalf of Atwal.
Confronted about the letter, written on House of Commons letterhead three months before the pakora incident, Grewal said he had forgotten about it.
Grewal's letter says he had known Atwal for five years and that he was a top car salesman at work, as well as a volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society.
''Since his release from prison in 1992, Mr. Atwal has been coping with his rehabilitation and is becoming a productive member of society,'' Grewal said.
kbolan@png.canwest.com
Vancouver Sun
© CanWest News Service 2006
Published: Monday, July 31, 2006
VANCOUVER - A Surrey, B.C., man convicted in a political assassination attempt was fired from his job for allegedly bringing marijuana-laced Indian snacks to work which made other employees sick, according to court documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun.
Jaspal Singh Atwal who has approached a series of B.C. Lower Mainland MPs for help to get a visa to go to India filed a wrongful dismissal suit for $10,000 against Don Carr Chevrolet related to his 2003 firing.
The suit in Surrey Provincial Court was withdrawn just before it was to go to trial on May 30, 2006.
In his notice of claim, Atwal states he ''faithfully and diligently performed his duties'' and was fired without notice or just cause.
But the car dealership's statement of reply and counter-claim says Atwal was let go because he and a co-worker ''brought marijuana-laced pakoras to the defendant's place of employment.''
''The claimant and his co-worker then served the drug-laced pakoras to unsuspecting employees,'' the document says. ''Because of adverse reactions by other employees to the marijuana-laced pakoras, three employees were rushed to the hospital and the entire service department was closed down for the majority of the day, as was the parts department and the reception/switchboard department.''
Surrey RCMP was called and did an investigation, but no charges were laid.
Cpl. Roger Morrow said the file was already in storage and would be difficult to find. ''I can confirm that we attended a place of business in Surrey in February (2003) where some staffers got sick allegedly from some food that may have been laced with a foreign substance,'' Morrow said.
Atwal denied responsibility for lacing the food with marijuana, according to the court documents.
Atwal refused to comment when contacted by The Vancouver Sun.
''I have nothing to talk to you,'' Atwal said before hanging up.
But his lawyer Todd Kerr said later that the wrongful dismissal suit ''has been settled to Mr. Atwal's satisfaction.''
''The allegations that were made against him in the defence of the action were never established,'' Kerr said.
Atwal remains on parole after being convicted of attempted murder in the 1986 shooting on Vancouver Island of a visiting Indian politician.
He was found by a B.C. Supreme Court judge to have been the leader of four members of the International Sikh Youth Federation who carried out the failed assassination plot against Malkiat Singh Sidhu as he travelled with relatives on a rural road near Gold River, B.C.
Sidhu was hit twice, but survived. He was later murdered in India.
When Atwal was sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting Sidhu, the judge called the crime ''an act of terrorism in order to advance a cause.''
The Vancouver Sun revealed this week that North Vancouver Liberal MP Don Bell made a call to the Indian consul general in Vancouver on behalf of Atwal, who had his full parole revoked in 2002 after a separate police investigation.
Bell claimed he did not know of Atwal's conviction when he called and that he was just inquiring regarding the case, not advocating for a visa for Atwal.
He said Atwal was referred to him by Vancouver South MP Ujjal Dosanjh, whom Atwal was acquitted of beating with a metal pipe in 1985.
Dosanjh told The Vancouver Sun that he did not pass on details of the high-profile assassination attempt to Bell because he assumed Atwal would tell the whole story.
The Vancouver Sun also uncovered a reference letter for Atwal written by former Surrey Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal, who had earlier criticized the other two MPs for questionable judgment for their interventions on behalf of Atwal.
Confronted about the letter, written on House of Commons letterhead three months before the pakora incident, Grewal said he had forgotten about it.
Grewal's letter says he had known Atwal for five years and that he was a top car salesman at work, as well as a volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society.
''Since his release from prison in 1992, Mr. Atwal has been coping with his rehabilitation and is becoming a productive member of society,'' Grewal said.
kbolan@png.canwest.com
Vancouver Sun
© CanWest News Service 2006