Timeline

• June 23, 1985

  Air India Flight 182 is on its way to London from Montreal when it explodes near Ireland, killing 329 people, including 125 children. Less than one hour earlier, two baggage handlers at Tokyo's Narita Airport are killed when a bag explodes as they are transferring it to Air India Flight 301.

• Nov. 6, 1985

  RCMP raid the homes of several suspected Sikh militants, including Talwinder Singh Parmar, Inderjit Singh Reyat and Manmohan Singh.

• Nov. 8, 1985

  Talwinder Singh Parmar and Inderjit Singh Reyat are arrested in connection with the bombings. When the Crown fails to produce evidence linking the pair to Air India, Parmar is released. Reyat gets a minor fine for an unrelated weapons charge and moves to England one year later.

• Jan. 22, 1986

  The Canadian Aviation Safety Board formally concludes a bomb brought down the jet on the Montreal-London leg of its flight to India.

• Feb. 4, 1986

  The judge leading an Indian government inquiry also concludes Air India 182 was brought down by a bomb in the plane's forward baggage compartment.

• May 11, 1986

  Canada's Solicitor-General, James Kelleher, says new evidence may lead to charges, it is still insufficient to get a conviction in court.

• Nov. 11, 1987

  Following reports the Canadian Security Intelligence Service used a misleading affidavit to obtain a wiretap warrant in their Air-India bombing investigation, Canada's top spy resigns.

• Feb. 5, 1988

  Reyat, an electrician from the Vancouver Island of Duncan, is arrested in England. Parmar leaves Canada for India soon after.

• Dec. 8, 1989

  British authorities sign an extradition order for Reyat to be tried in Canada.

• Aug. 21, 1989

  Canadian investigators say they have new evidence, but can't make it public.

• Jan. 30, 1990

  Citizens Alliance for a Public Inquiry into Air India says the RCMP is blocking its attempts to kickstart a public inquiry.

• May 10, 1991

  A Vancouver court convicts Reyat on manslaughter and explosives charges related to the Narita airport bombing. He is sentenced to 10 years in prison.

• May 14, 1991

  Liberal MP John Nunziatia tells reporters the RCMP know who bombed Air India 182, but don't have enough evidence to prosecute.

• Oct. 15, 1992

  Parmar dies in what Indian police describe as a spontaneous gunbattle in that country's capital city. Reports of the incident later suggest he was killed in police custody.

• Feb. 3, 1994

  Federal Solicitor General Herb Gray stops short of ordering one, but says a royal commission into the air disaster isn't out of the question.

• May 31, 1995

  RCMP go public with an offer of a $1-million reward for help that leads them to the bombers.

• Dec. 11, 1996

  The RCMP say they expect to lay charges soon.

• Oct. 15, 1998

  The RCMP announce that they have submitted their preliminary investigation report to the British Columbia Crown counsel's office for review.

• June 26, 2000

  A published report says police have identified a third suspect in the case. The person is not named, but described as a having financial ties to the Reyat family.

• Oct. 27, 2000

  Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, both residents of British Columbia, are arrested and charged with the murder of 329 passengers and two baggage handlers. They are also charged with the attempted murder of the 270 passengers on Air India flight 301.

• Jan. 10, 2001

  The court denies both Malik and Bagri bail.

• Feb. 2001

  At the urging of the British Columbia prosecutors, Ottawa applies to the United Kingdom for its consent to try Reyat.

• June 4, 2001

  The U.K. consents to Reyat being tried in Canada. The Crown files a new indictment in connection with the Air India bombing against him.

• June 6, 2001

  Reyat is arrested and charged with seven counts including murder, attempted murder and conspiracy in the Air India and Tokyo airport bombings.

• Feb. 18, 2002

  After several delays, pre-trial motions for the case get underway in a Vancouver court.

• May, 2002

  The trial is again delayed, to give Reyat time to replace the eight lawyers who suddenly quit his ten-member defence team.

• Jan., 2003

  The jury selection process gets underway, with potential jurors being warned they could wind up spending as long as three years hearing the case.

• Feb. 10, 2003

  Reyat pleads guilty to the manslaughter of 329 people and one charge of aiding in the construction of a bomb. He is sentenced to five years in prison.

• Feb. 24, 2003

  Spurred by the prospect of a jury lasting through a long trial, Malik and Bagri ask the court to have their case tried by judge alone. The Crown does not oppose the application.

• March 7, 2003

  Just two weeks after it had eased the rules concerning publication of details heard in court, the B.C. Supreme Court imposes it again.

• April 28, 2003

  The trial for Malik and Bagri begins in a specially-constructed, $7.2-million courtroom.

• November, 2003

  The star witness against Malik testifies that the accused admitted his involvement in the bombing on at least two occasions. She testified that he told her because they were in love.

• December, 2003

  The Crown shows a videotape of Bagri making a speech in July of 1984 at a rally in New York City calling for young Sikhs to rise up and take revenge against the Indian government. "Until we kill 50,000 Hindus, we will not rest," he shouts.

• February, 2004

  A woman friend of Bagri's is dismissed from testifying after she tells the court she can't remember the basic details of her relationship with him. Authorities claim she had told them that Bagri came to her house on the eve of the terrorist attack to borrow her car so he could leave luggage at the airport. She refused.

• May 18, 2004

  After 13 months and 80 witnesses, the Crown rests its case.

• May 31, 2004

  Malik and Bagri's lawyers begin presenting their case.

• Oct. 19, 2004

  The trial enters its final phase as defence counsel kicks off two weeks of closing arguments that paint the defendants as innocent.

• Nov. 2, 2004

  Prosecutor Gordon Matei begins the Crown's closing arguments.

• Nov. 26, 2004

  The Crown wraps up its closing arguments.

• Dec. 4, 2004

  Presiding B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Josephson says his verdict will be delivered March 16, 2005.

• March 16, 2005

  Justice Ian Josephson acquits Malik and Bagri, saying he found the main witness in the case not credible.

Source: The Canadian Press and the B.C. Ministry of the Attorney General