Pakistan-born Sikh peer sues PM Starmer

LONDON: Pakistan-born Conservative peer Lord Rami Ranger has launched legal action against British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the cancellation of his CBE, arguing that the decision was unfair and infringed his right to free expression.

Lord Ranger, 78, who was born in Gujranwala, received the honour in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion. A notice published in the London Gazette in December 2024 stated that the King had ordered that the CBE be cancelled and annulled and that Lord Ranger’s name be removed from the register of the order. He still holds his MBE.

The businessman contends that the move was disproportionate and says he has been targeted by cancel culture. The loss of the CBE has left him embarrassed and distressed. The legal case names the prime minister because the Forfeiture Committee, which handles such matters, falls under the Cabinet Office overseen by the premier.

Arguments presented in court

At a hearing in the High Court in London, Tom Hickman KC, appearing for Lord Ranger, asked the court to allow a challenge to the forfeiture decision. He said the committee had proceeded on material that was not put to his client. "The committee had "relied on evidence, allegations and assumptions that were never put to the claimant," he stated.

Hickman also argued that the committee had acted irrationally, failed to follow its own procedures and violated Lord Ranger’s freedom of expression rights. He told the court that Lord Ranger had become involved in a dispute over Khalistanism, which he described as a separatist and sectarian movement that his client opposes. The barrister said Lord Ranger made several comments in 2021 about the movement and about Sikhs for Justice, which is conducting a worldwide Khalistan Referendum.

He further told the court that in 2023 Lord Ranger issued an open letter concerning a BBC documentary that, according to Hickman, was highly critical of India’s Modi government, adding that his client had concerns about the programme’s accuracy and purpose.

Background to the forfeiture

Lord Ranger had previously faced a House of Lords investigation over allegations that he harassed and bullied Indian journalist Poonam Joshi. Separately, he apologised for online posts in which he criticised Sikh separatists aligned with Khalistan and made belittling remarks about Pakistanis. It is understood that the Forfeiture Committee decided to revoke his CBE on the grounds that his conduct had brought the honours system into disrepute.

Christopher Knight KC, representing the Cabinet Office, urged the High Court to reject the case. He told the hearing that the committee had reached its conclusion and that the prime minister had agreed with it.

"The committee considered, and the prime minister agreed, that the claimant’s behaviour brought the honours system into disrepute"

Knight argued that the decision could not properly be challenged in court because honours forfeiture is a matter of moral, ethical and political judgment rather than an objective question of law.

"A challenge to the exercise of the honours prerogative, whether to grant or remove, involves a subject matter inherently unsuitable for determination by a court applying rules of law"