New Delhi: Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national accused of attempting to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, will go on trial by June or July this year in the US.
According to a document by the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, accessed by ThePrint, the court has ordered Gupta and the prosecution to submit a joint letter proposing a trial date in June or July 2025.
“The court hereby directs the parties to submit a joint letter addressing a proposed schedule for pretrial submissions as required by the Court’s Trial Practices and the anticipated length of trial,” the order dated 28 February, signed by Victor Marrero, US District Judge reads.
The order also states that the parties shall submit this joint letter at least 7 days before the status conference scheduled in the matter on 28 March, 2025.
Gupta is currently awaiting trial and, if convicted, could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each charge. Arrested on 30 June, 2023, in the Czech Republic, Gupta was extradited to the US on 14 June last year.
The US has indicted Gupta with conspiracy to murder Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who was a US citizen and a designated terrorist in India.
A document, filed in a New York district court, also alleged that an Indian government employee played a role in the “failed plot”.
US prosecutors say this “employee” directed the “assassination plot from India”.
Two indictments have been filed and unsealed in the alleged Pannun assassination plot case. One indictment claims that Gupta is involved in international narcotics and weapons trafficking, and was recruited by the said Indian government employee, a RAW agent.
In an exclusive interview with ThePrint, Gupta had said that he doesn’t know former R&AW officer Vikash Yadav and that all he needs is a “good lawyer to turn this around”.
“Never. I will never turn approver. All I need is a good lawyer to turn this around,” he had told ThePrint, alleging that he was being “forced to turn approver” and “pressured to plead guilty”. He added that he struggles every day in prison. On one occasion, he was confined for over 20 days in a “cage” in the US prison, he claimed.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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