NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

Sikh London cop, accused of racism, vindicated

Paran Balakrishnan in London

Gurpal Virdi, a Sikh police officer who was accused of sending racist hate mail and dismissed from London's Metropolitan Police Force, has won a marathon legal battle to clear his name.

An Employment Tribunal has ruled that Scotland Yard's internal investigation into the allegations against Virdi was tainted by racism and fatally flawed.

Virdi was accused of sending racist hate mail to himself and 12 other black and Asian officers. The Metropolitan Police inquiry claimed that Virdi hoped to use the messages as a basis for a racial discrimination suit.

It has indicated that it won't contest the Employment Tribunal's decision in the highly publicised case. "We have reviewed the judgment and will not be appealing against it. It is time to draw a line under this long story," a police spokesman said.

Speaking after the decision, Virdi said, "It is a very sad day for the metropolitan police. It shows that racism exists. Despite what senior officers keep saying, nothing has improved."

Virdi, 41, was sacked in March after an internal disciplinary panel decided he had sent racist hate mail over the Met's internal mail system in December 1997. The letters told black and Asian officers to leave the force and were signed with the initials of the racist National Front.

The internal inquiry claimed that some messages had originated from Virdi's computer. In April 1998, the police searched Virdi's house and he was suspended.

The Sikh officer claimed he was framed and discriminated against because he had disagreed with white officers about an incident in which an Iraqi and an Indian boy were beaten up.

The Employment Tribunal found that the police inquiry treated Virdi differently from another white officer Jackie Bachelor who was also suspected of sending the hate mail. Bachelor was told before the interview began that she was not really suspected of the crime.

On another occasion, the police attempted to entrap Virdi with a secret tape recording when he was speaking to another officer.

"I have no doubt we will consider compensation and an apology," the police spokesman said after the judgment.

Virdi had been in the force for 16 years and had an unblemished record.

The metropolitan police has said it will now hold a second inquiry to review the entire episode.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report