Nikhil Gupta ‘murder-for-hire’ plot case postponed to October

New York: The judge hearing the case against Nikhil Gupta, who has been accused by the US in a “murder-for-hire” against a Khalistani leader, has postponed the next action to October 18.

The status conference in the case was scheduled for Friday, but Judge Victor Marrero ordered the postponement at the request of both the prosecution and the defence.

A status conference is a meeting by both sides at which the lawyers exchange evidence and could also discuss other matters.

Damian Williams, the Federal Prosecutor, wrote to the judge on Thursday to request the adjournment, saying that it would “be interest of justice as it would allow adequate time for the production and review of discovery” and the lawyer for Gupta had agreed to it.

“Discovery” is the sharing of the evidence and the witnesses so the two sides can prepare their case.

In his order, Marrero said that the delay would not be counted against the condition of the Speedy Trial Act which requires the trial to begin within 70 days of the defendant’s first appearance.

“This exclusion is designed to guarantee effectiveness of counsel and prevent any possible miscarriage of justice. The value of this exclusion outweighs the best interests of the defendants and the public to a speedy trial,” he wrote in his order.

In July the Justice Department wrote to the judge that because of the sensitive materials in the case, it was recommending a Classified Information Security Officer and alternatives with clearance for the levels of the classification to deal with them.

Gupta appeared in court on June 28 for a hearing at which he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

He is being held without in the Metropolitan Detention Centre, a notorious federal jail in the city borough of Brooklyn.

Gupta has been charged with hiring a hitman to kill a US citizen.

The alleged victim is reported to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer with US and Canadian citizenships, who lives in New York and leads the ‘Sikhs for Justice’ group which is the hub for the campaigns for Khalistan.

Pannun has been designated a terrorist by the Indian government.

At his appearance in court on June 28, the prosecution said that Gupta negotiated with a person he thought was a “hitman” offering to pay $100,000 as the price for the alleged assassination plot and arranged to give him an advance of $15,000 and the details to identify the alleged intended victim.

But the person he thought was a “hitman” was, in fact, a secret undercover agent, according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors also alleged that a phone seized from Gupta had his interactions with an Indian government employee.

Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic last June at the request of the US and was extradited and brought to New York on June 14.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

–IANS