Inderjit Singh Reyat, convicted bomb-maker in the 1985 Air India bombing case, has been charged with perjury arising from his testimony during the Kanishka trial.

The charge against Reyat, who had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, was levelled on Friday in the British Columbia Supreme Court and stems from his September 2003 testimony as a witness in the murder and conspiracy trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, both of whom were acquitted of all charges.

Complete coverage: Kanishka bombing

During the trial, a Crown lawyer had called Reyat's words "a pack of lies", a Canadian Press report said.

He is serving a five-year sentence in an Ontario prison for manslaughter in the deaths of 329 people when a bomb exploded aboard an Air India plane on June 23, 1985 and has already served a 10-year sentence for manslaughter in another bombing at Tokyo's Narita airport that killed two baggage handlers.

Reyat is scheduled to appear in B.C. Supreme Court on March 27.

He is also eligible for day parole and will have a parole hearing held on March 3 in Ontario.