Alleged Montreal drug smuggler gets new trial after his right to be tried in English was violated

Alleged smuggler says language request wasn't met An alleged drug smuggler says his language rights were violated after his requests for an English trial were not met.

MONTREAL — Soninder Dhingra, who was found guilty in 2018 of importing and trafficking large amounts of cocaine and crystal meth, is getting a new trial because the Quebec Court of Appeal says his right to be tried in English was violated.

On June 6, 2018, the 48-year-old Île-Bizard resident was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with eight years, nine months and 25 days left to serve on his sentence.

Dhingra, whose maternal language is Punjabi, identified himself as an English-speaker during his trial.

According to Section 530 of the Criminal Code of Canada, the accused has the "right to be tried by a judge in the official language of his or her choice."

Following his conviction, Dhingra claimed his right to be tried in the official language of his choice was broken because both the prosecutor and judge spoke mostly French; something the Crown acknowledged but insisted did not warrant a new trial because the accused had a simultaneous translator the whole time.

The defence council at the time questioned the method.

"We’ve tried it in another file where it was registered on an independent band. Unfortunately, half of it is inaudible on that file," said Debora de Thomasis. "I don’t know if there is a way that we could make sure that it’s registering properly... because then it’s a major problem because [of] linguistic rights."

Judge Flavia K. Longo responded that the court could not guarantee the translation would be properly registered, but the defence agreed to continue on with proceedings.

The Court of Appeal states this led to "numerous problems in interpretation and difficulties in securing a valid transcription."

Quebec's language law, Bill 96, forbids the court from making bilingualism a requirement for judges.

However, the constitutional right to an English trial in Quebec still stands -- as does the right for a French trial in the rest of the country.

Thursday, Dhingra's conviction was overturned.

“The breaches of the appellant’s language rights at trial, taken as a whole, are serious and substantial," said Justice Robert Mainville. "In light of the circumstances, no order other than a new trial can be envisaged as a remedy to these breaches."

Quebec's Court of Appeal also heavily criticized the judge and the prosecutor for not adhering to the defendant's language wishes.

“It's surprising that, in this case, the Crown prosecutor assigned to the case insisted on using the French language throughout the trial, which was to be held in English," Mainville stated.

In addition, he called the breaches, in relation to the missing or barely audible transcripts, "systemic in nature."

"This Court should not and cannot condone this sorry state of affairs with respect to the administration of justice in this province,” Mainville stated in his ordering of a new trial.

Dhingra was arrested in November 2013 as he allegedly tried to cross the Lacolle Canada-U.S. border with 94 kg of cocaine via his apparent accomplice, Canadian border agent Stefanie McClelland.

The former agent was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in relation to the crime and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Dhingra is currently free on bail and awaiting a new trial date.