A driver who has racked up 32 driving prohibitions or suspensions, as well as 16 24-hour driving bans, failed to convince a British Columbia judge he should get a lighter sentence than normal for drunk driving because more than six months in jail could get him deported to India.
Vernon’s Gurinder Pal Singh Bajwa, a permanent resident of Canada who escaped deportation in 2019 on an impaired driving conviction with a sentence of five months and 29 days, got a reduced sentence this time around because Mounties
captured him on surveillance cameras using the toilet
in a holding cell after he was arrested for impaired driving again on May 11, 2022, after rear-ending a white Hyundai Tucson with his Mercedes sport utility vehicle in the parking lot of a Wholesale Club. His blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
But the judge refused to lighten Bajwa’s sentence on convictions for impaired and prohibited driving to a level that wouldn’t have immigration consequences for the 57-year-old. Any sentence over six months can result in deportation from Canada.
“To accede to Mr. Bajwa’s request for a (conditional sentence) or a reduction of the jail time on either count for the impact of the collateral immigration consequences to Mr. Bajwa and as a remedy (for breaching his Charter right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure), would bring the administration of justice into disrepute and result in an inappropriate and artificial sentence; in other words, an unfit sentence,” Judge David Patterson of B.C.’s provincial court wrote in a recent decision.
Bajwa immigrated to Canada from India’s Punjab region over 34 years ago.
“He received his first British Columbia driving prohibition on March 19, 1993,” said the judge. “He has also accumulated a substantial number of additional Criminal Code convictions and Motor Vehicle Act infractions.”
The Crown recommended Bajwa get between nine and 12 months in jail, a $2,500 fine and a five-year driving prohibition for the impaired driving charge, plus another four months behind bars for getting behind the wheel while he “was subject to five separate driving prohibitions” or suspensions.
“I am flabbergasted that Crown counsel has only sought a four-month consecutive jail sentence (for driving while prohibited),” Patterson said in his decision dated June 2. “Given the circumstances of the offence, it is hard to imagine a more suitable case for the two-year less-a-day maximum sentence allowed.”
Bajwa’s lawyer argued for a conditional sentence or no more jail time than he got in 2019 — five months and 29 days behind bars. He noted that would allow Bajwa to remain in Canada.
The court heard Bajwa “has no one in India” and that he’s in the process of getting a divorce “as his alcohol usage ruined his relationship with his estranged wife and his children,” said the judge, who noted they live in Canada.
Eight days after he was caught drunk driving in May of 2022, Bajwa “was very intoxicated at his daughter’s wedding and smacked a plate of food out of her hand,” said the decision.
“He was subsequently convicted of assault … and handed a 60-day jail sentence followed by an 18-month probation order, which included having no contact with his estranged wife or children.”
That was “the last straw for the family, essentially,” said the decision.
Bajwa “claims that his problems with alcohol started when he was a roofer,” it said. “He had a group of co-workers and they would often go drinking alcohol together. His alcohol consumption spiralled out of control.”
After he was caught driving drunk in 2022, Bajwa “began the process of getting his life together,” said the decision. “He gave up drinking alcohol and took a few counselling sessions. He now lives with a close friend … and he is an active participant in the Vernon Sikh community.”
Bajwa’s “moral blameworthiness is at the highest end of the spectrum,” said the judge.
Patterson said he had “considered the potential impact of a jail sentence of six months or more on him, including the possibility that he may be removed from Canada, his home for more than 34 years.”
Bajwa got a letter from the Canada Border Services Agency in February of 2024 “alleging he may be inadmissible to Canada” for serious criminality.
“Removal from Canada would lead to dire consequences for Mr. Bajwa,” said the judge.
“He would be forced to leave the country he has called home for more than 34 years. He would face the prospect of returning to India, which has changed since he last resided there. A country that now may be as foreign to him as Canada was when Mr. Bajwa immigrated to Canada.”
After considering the Charter breach, Patterson sentenced Bajwa to 198 days (just over six months) in jail for the impaired driving conviction, fined him $2,000 and banned him from driving for three years.
For driving while prohibited, the judge handed Bajwa another 120 days behind bars (about four months) to be served consecutively, for a total of about 10 months in jail.
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