ARTICLE
4 September 2021

DPP withdraws 8 charges; Vishal Jood to walk free after pleading guilty to 3 charges

On the evidence before the court, his conduct could not have been motivated by a prejudice against or hatred for Sikhs.
Australia Criminal Law

Vishal Jood will be released from custody in six weeks following negotiations between his Liverpool criminal lawyers and the DPP.

Appearing before Magistrate David Price at Parramatta Local Court today, the DPP  withdrew eight charges, following which Vishal agreed to plead guilty to three charges.

Police had initially laid 10 charges against Vishal arising out of four separate incidents. Police had requested the DPP to prosecute the matter before a District Court jury. However, the DPP elected for the matter to remain in the Local Court.

A police request to lay a further charge under section 93Z of the Crimes Act of publicly threatening or inciting violence on grounds of religion was not sanctioned by the DPP.

Vishal will serve a total sentence of 6 months for all three offences. Since he has been in custody since 16 April 2021, his sentence will be back-dated to that date.  

14 February 2021 incident

Vishal's counsel played a video to the court of a Farmers Rally at Quakers Hill in Sydney in December 2020. The video showed Vishal unfurling the Tiranga, following which over a dozen goons surrounded him, pushed and dragged him and assaulted him repeatedly. The crowd was chanting “Modi kutta, Modi kutta.”

The court heard that following this rally, Vishal received numerous threats on social media from anti-India elements.

On 14 February 2021, Vishal attended the Tiranga car rally, his lawyer told the court. At the end of the rally, a dozen or so of the organisers (including women) were having refreshments at Jones Park, Parramatta at about 4:30pm.

The organisers of the rally were approached by a group of over 100 Indian males. They were swearing and shouting slogans such as “Modi Murdabad.”

The court was told the group surrounded the rally organisers and demanded the names and car registration numbers of the “boys” who had been at the Tiranga rally. After making threats, the group left.

Evidence from another witness, who was present at Wigram Street, Harris Park between 5pm and 7pm on that day, was tendered to the court. His evidence was that he observed three groups of Indian males loitering in the area. Some were armed with weapons. Photos of two of the men armed with golf clubs were presented to the court.

The witness observed a number of cars driving slowly around the area and its occupants speaking to the groups of men. He then saw some of the men yelling and running in the middle of Wigram Street, armed with rod-like weapons.

At some point a large group marched along Wigram Street chanting anti-India slogans such as “Modi kutta hae.”

Vishal's case was that approximately 7pm, he was standing on Wigram Street when he heard one the cars” occupant's yelling, “There's Rahul Jood.”  Several people came out of one of the cars. One of them ran towards Vishal armed with a baseball bat. Vishal took the bat off him and smashed a window of the nearest car with it, to scare away his attackers.

He pleaded guilty to being armed with a weapon (a baseball bat) with intent to commit an indictable offence and damaging property (the car window).

The learned magistrate found that these offences were below the medium range of objective seriousness.      

16 September 2020 incident

Vishal pleaded guilty to one charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company as to this incident.

The Khalistani/Sikh angle

A number of documents were tendered to the court by Vishal's counsel relating to

the Khalistani movement and the Sikh religion, including:  

  • A statement from a historian tracing the origins of the Sikh religion and the Khalistani movement as well as the acts of terror carried out by Khalistanis.
  • A reference from a Sikh Indian-based journalist in Haryana confirming the respect for Sikhs in that state by Hindus, including Vishal's family.
  • References from two of Vishal's Sikh friends in Sydney confirming that he has never disrespected the Sikh religion.  

The DPP submitted that the 16 September 2020 offence was motivated by hatred for or prejudice against a group of people to which the offender believed the victim belonged (an aggravating factor under s 21A(2(h) of the Crimes Act):

Jood's barrister pointed out that the Khalistani movement was not synonymous with the Sikh religion. He informed the court that Hindus and Sikhs had been living in harmony in India for the last 500 years.

The Khalistani movement is not a religion. Further, on the evidence before the court,  Vishal's conduct could simply not have been motivated by a prejudice against or hatred for Sikhs.

The learned magistrate did not accept that Vishal's conduct was motivated by animosity towards Sikhs.

Judgement

Magistrate Price:

  • found that Vishal had very good prospects of rehabilitation.
  • found that Vishal had a great deal to offer to the community.
  • Counselled Vishal that “people will aggravate you,” but that he should resist the temptation to react in a violent manner.  

Misleading web-site reports

Various reports from web-sites containing misleading reports about Vishal's case were provided by his Liverpool criminal lawyers to the court.

Reports floating on various dubious social media sites that Vishal had pleaded guilty to 10 charges and that he had admitted to targeting Sikhs turned out to be fake.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Mondaq uses cookies on this website. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies as set out in our Privacy Policy.

Learn More