Convicted terrorist Inderjit Singh Reyat will have to raise $500,000 bail before he is released from jail for the first time in more than 20 years, The Vancouver Sun has learned.

Reyat, the only man convicted in the Air India bombing that killed 329 people, was ordered freed on bail by the B.C. Court of Appeal Wednesday, pending a perjury trial early next year.

But the conditions of his release were kept secret, though Attorney-General Wally Oppal described them as "extremely strict."

However, The Sun has confirmed that one of the conditions is bail to the tune of half a million dollars.

Reyat's friends and supporters had not yet provided the court with sureties guaranteeing the bail by the time the appeal court registry closed Wednesday.

Relatives of Air India bombing victims said they were devastated that Reyat, 56, could soon be out despite allegations that he lied dozens of times about his knowledge of the June 1985 plot by Sikh extremists to target Air India flights with suitcase bombs.

At 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Appeal Court Justice Anne Rowles overturned Associate Supreme Court Justice Patrick Dohm's decision in March denying the Air India participant bail on the grounds that to do so would undermine public confidence in the system.

Rowles' reasons for reversing the earlier ruling were also kept secret.

Reyat was charged two years ago with perjury for allegedly lying 27 times during his September 2003 testimony at the trial of two other Air India suspects. Both men -- Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik -- were later acquitted of all counts in the unprecedented terrorist attack.

But Attorney-General Wally Oppal says the bail conditions for Reyat -- who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his role in the Air India bombing -- are so strict that public confidence in the judicial system should not be undermined.

Oppal would not reveal to reporters late Wednesday just how much money Reyat supporters will have to put up to get him out of jail until the current charge against him goes to trial next January.

"I think it is safe to say that they are about as strict as you can get. I am not prepared to go any further than that. But I think the public should know that," Oppal said. "They are extremely strict. But the presiding judge today wanted to hear from counsel before the bail conditions would be made public."

He said Reyat will first have to find sureties for the bail amount in order to be released.

Registry spokesman Patrick Boyer said he had no idea when Reyat's supporters would attempt to meet the bail conditions.

"I expect the sureties will be here tomorrow because it is a high bail," he told reporters Wednesday, refusing to disclose the amount.

Vancouver resident Rene Saklikar, who lost her aunt and uncle in the bombing, said she was blindsided by the Reyat news.

"I am deeply uneasy, deeply unhappy and have many unanswered questions," Saklikar told The Vancouver Sun. "Air India is a Canadian epic that will haunt our nation until justice is served."

The fact no one has been convicted of murder in the biggest terrorist plot in Canadian history frustrates family members, she said.