July 17, 2025
RED FM News Desk
An Indian youth whose refugee claim was previously rejected will now get a second chance to make his case after a Federal Court judge ruled that the rejection was based on flawed reasoning.
Parwinder Singh, a now 21-year-old from Basantpura village in Haryana, India, had initially applied for asylum in Canada after alleging he was falsely accused and tortured by police in connection to a violent altercation in 2019 that left his friend dead. Singh claimed that the attack was politically motivated and that he was later targeted by police, allegedly at the behest of a local politician’s family member.
After arriving in Canada in November 2019 using a visa obtained with the help of immigration agent Deepak Pawar, Singh applied for refugee status, stating he feared retaliation from both the attackers and police in India. His claim, however, was denied by the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD), which noted that his story was “strikingly similar” to nearly 200 others who had used the same consultant.
But in a recent decision, Justice Guy Régimbald of the Federal Court overturned the rejection, stating that “refugee claims are not a novel-writing contest” and that superficial similarities in language or narrative should not be used to determine credibility.
“There’s no legal requirement for originality in a refugee story,” said Justice Régimbald, noting that the RAD had focused more on stylistic resemblance than factual inconsistencies. “Form should not outweigh substance.”
Singh had also later added to his claim that he became politically active in Canada by publicly supporting the Khalistan movement, further putting him at risk if returned to India. While immigration authorities questioned the timing and credibility of this new claim, the Federal Court ruled that his case deserves a fresh hearing.
The matter has now been sent back for reassessment by a different officer.
The case highlights growing concerns about the use of “templated” refugee stories by unscrupulous immigration consultants but also underscores the importance of evaluating each claim on its own merits.
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