A senior Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer has filed a $9 million lawsuit against the Government of India, blaming it for running a false disinformation campaign that disrupted his personal and professional life. Sandeep Singh Sidhu, a British Columbia native known as “Sunny,” submitted the claim in the Ontario Superior Court on Tuesday.
Indian officials have repeatedly denied taking part in any disinformation campaign aimed at Canadians.
The suit claims Indian officials wrongly portrayed Sidhu, a 20-year CBSA employee with no link to overseas politics, as a fugitive terrorist to stir tensions. The statement of claim, prepared by Toronto lawyer Jeffrey Kroeker, says Sidhu was targeted because he has a common Sikh surname and works in a visible national security role. It states that “Sunny became just a tool for India’s propaganda machine to falsely accuse Canada of supporting a Khalistani extremist.”
The lawsuit claims Indian officials wrongly painted Sidhu, a 20-year CBSA officer with no ties to foreign politics, as a fugitive terrorist to create tension. The statement of claim, filed by Toronto lawyer Jeffrey Kroeker, says Sidhu was targeted because he has a common Sikh surname and works in a visible uniformed role in national security. “Sunny became merely an instrument of India’s propaganda machine to falsely accuse Canada of employing and supporting a Khalistani extremist,” the document states.
It says Sidhu’s troubles began last October when some Indian news channels aired sensational claims calling him a “dreaded terrorist” working for the Canadian government, including as a CBSA superintendent.
Media described him as a wanted fugitive linked to banned groups and violent acts. Social media made things worse, spreading his personal information and pushing calls for his extradition or even his killing, which led to a flood of death threats.
Sidhu, who was born and raised in British Columbia, said he was not a practising Sikh and had kept a low profile except for brief appearances on the TV show Border Security: Canada’s Front Line. The sudden attention forced him into hiding and caused deep emotional distress. The lawsuit says the “wave of aggressive misinformation” pushed him into alcohol dependency and led him to seek treatment at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital.
The lawsuit also says the CBSA made the situation worse. Instead of helping him, the agency treated the threats as a “non-work related matter” and put him through intrusive background checks, including demands for privacy waivers. He was briefly suspended during the investigation, though he was later cleared and returned to his job. The claim says the CBSA “did nothing to help him” and even downplayed the death threats, accusing the agency of failing in its duty of care.
The CBSA confirmed that Sidhu was still employed and said it had found “no evidence to support the allegations made against him.”
The case also names the CBSA as a co-defendant for alleged negligence and seeks damages for lost income, psychological harm, and damage to his reputation.
A first court hearing is scheduled for early 2026.
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