The only person to be convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings was in a B.C. court on Monday to answer to charges of perjury.

Inderjit Singh Reyat, who is currently serving a five-year sentence for manslaughter for making the bomb that blew up the Air India flight, has been charged with lying while under oath.

The Crown believes he committed perjury at the trial in which Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted for the bombing.

The bombings killed 331 people.

Justice Ian Josephson, the judge in that trial that acquitted Reyat's two co-accused, called Reyat an "unmitigated liar."

The Crown says Reyat lied 27 times during his testimony.

Air India was bombed in retaliation for the Indian government's attack on Sikhism's holiest shrine. The attack ignited deadly riots in Punjab and protests in Vancouver.

Reyat told the court that he had no idea of the position of Sikh people in India.

The Air India bombing is still considered a high priority terrorism case.

"The day that the acquittals were announced of Mr. Malik and Mr. Bagri, the RCMP announced publicly that it was carrying on with its investigation and that it would do so vigorously," Crown Counsel Spokesperson Geoffrey Gaul said.

"Whether there will be anything flowing from that investigation is to be seen. It is dependent upon what the police can come up with."

Families of the Air India victims came to watch Reyat's first appearance in court.

"We'd like to believe that at some point there will be some form of justice for us. We're not going to give up," said Ed Madon, whose father died in the bombing.

"For the past 21 years, this individual, Mr. Reyat, has continued to minimize his role in this crime and that's a tragedy in itself."

Reyat has been in jail since 1989. He was denied parole earlier this month. The National Parole Board in Ontario said that he had to serve the remaining two years of his sentence in prison.

If convicted of perjury, Reyat could be sentenced to serve up to 14 more years.

With a report from CTV's Renu Baksh and files from The Canadian Press