New Delhi: Two weeks before the scheduled sentencing in the alleged murder for hire plot involving an Indian national, the United States government has requested the district judge in New York to grant approximately 20 minutes to the single “victim-witness”—Gurpatwant Singh Pannun—to address the court.
Additionally, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York has also sought around 15 minutes of the court’s time to play a limited number of audio and video exhibits during its sentencing presentation.
Lodged in a US prison since his extradition from Prague in 2023, Indian national Nikhil Gupta’s sentencing is scheduled on 20 November. He had already pleaded guilty in February this year to all three counts of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in connection with his efforts to murder a US citizen in New York City.
The legal counsel for Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Pannun, was designated as an individual terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2020. The US authorities have alleged Nikhil Gupta worked in tandem with a former junior officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), Vikas Yadav, to conspire in the plot to kill Pannun in the United States.
Yadav is facing an arrest warrant of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegedly contacting Gupta, a suspected drug and arms dealer, to carry out Pannun’s murder. He was dismissed from service and is also facing a separate case of kidnapping and extortion before a court in New Delhi.
“The government writes to advise the court of certain logistical matters relating to sentencing in the above-captioned matter, which is scheduled for 20 November 2026. First, the government expects that a single victim-witness will address the court during sentencing and respectfully requests that the victim-witness be given approximately twenty minutes during which to complete his statement,” US Attorney James M. McDonald wrote to District Judge Victor Marrero.
Additionally, McDonald apprised the judge of the possibility that around 200 spectators would attend the sentencing hearing on 20 November and requested the use of an overflow or ceremonial courtroom to accommodate them during the hearing.
“Second, the government expects to play a limited number of audio and/or video exhibits during its sentencing presentation, which the Government estimates will be no more than approximately fifteen minutes. The government will provide those exhibits with its sentencing submission and will make appropriate technical arrangements with the courtroom deputy in advance of the hearing. Third, the government expects that the sentencing proceeding is likely to be attended by members of the public and has been informed that as many as 200 spectators may be present for the sentencing hearing. Accordingly, the government respectfully submits that use of an overflow courtroom or the ceremonial courtroom may be appropriate in this case,” he further wrote.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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