Goel

BACKGROUND

Goel ascribes to the Nirankari faith, a minority religious group in India. He claims to have been persecuted in India, on account of his religious beliefs, by Sikh militants as well as by police officials, all of whom are allegedly hostile to those identifying as Nirankari. After entering the United States on a nonimmigrant visa and overstaying its terms, Goel was placed in removal proceedings. He conceded removability, and applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture.

The IJ denied all applications for relief, primarily on the basis of a negative credibility finding, concluding that Goel’s testimony materially contradicted the documentary evidence in several ways. For example, Goel testified that on one occa- GOEL v. GONZALES 7203 sion, Sikh militants fired upon him and his family with heavy rounds of ammunition in a drive-by shooting at their home. A press report, however, submitted by Goel in support of his application, was not consistent with Goel’s testimonial ver- sion of the event. The report described Goel and his father as having been physically beaten outside their home. It described the…