New Delhi: The Canadian government has ordered a public inquiry into the investigation process following the 1985 bombing of an Air India jet that led to a loss of 329 lives.
The announcement came after former Ontario Premier Bob Rae?the independent investigator appointed to review the Kanishka bombing trial?delivered a report on Wednesday. He is to lead the new public inquiry.
Rae?appointed to review the trial?has recommended an inquiry in his report submitted on Wednesday. He is authorised to address the concerns of the victims' families, but will not have the power to subpoena individuals.
The report recommended a focused, policy-based inquiry to answer lingering questions about the Kanishka bombing. The report pointed out the need for a "clear public reckoning".
The review report by Rae came following the acquittal in March of the two principal accused in the bombing of flight 182 on June 23, 1985.
The British Columbia Court had found Ripudaman Singh Malik, a Vancouver-based millionaire businessman and a millworker Ajaib Singh Bagri not guilty of murder and conspiracy charges.
This triggered a wave of protests from relatives of the victims, who termed the verdict a "second tragedy" and demanded a public inquiry.
The families were disappointed with the results of what is called the longest and most expensive trial in Canadian history acquittals.
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Rae told BBC, "The fundamental objective of an inquiry has to be lessons learned, how did things go wrong, are they still going wrong today and how can they be fixed."
There was a clear need for an inquiry into the actions of Canada's police and intelligence services both before and after the bombing, he added.
Meanwhile, relatives of the bomb victims say they are happy with his recommendations but many had hoped for a broader investigation into the bomb plot itself.
The A-I tragedy
Two bombs were checked onto flights in Vancouver. One blew up, killing two baggage handlers in Japan as they transferred it to one Air India flight.
The other blew up on Air India Flight 182 off the Irish coast - the worst airborne terror attack until the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
Police believed the bombings were in revenge for the Indian government's storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikhism's holiest shrine, in 1984.
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