United States judge denies request by Nikhil Gupta for defence material in Gurpatwant Pannun case

PTI

New York, January 12

A US judge has denied a request for defence materials by Indian national Nikhil Gupta, charged by federal prosecutors in a murder-for-hire plot to kill a Khalistani separatist on American soil.

United States District Judge Victor Marrero, in an order on Thursday, denied a motion filed by Gupta's attorney seeking discovery material in the case.

Gupta, 52, was charged by federal prosecutors here in an indictment unsealed in November last year with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual US and Canadian citizenships, on American soil.

Gupta was arrested in Prague, the Czech Republic, on June 30, 2023 and is being held there currently. The US government is seeking his extradition to America.

In his order, Marrero said that the court is persuaded by the government's argument that Gupta had no right to discovery at this time.

He cited Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16.1, which provides that no later than 14 days after the arraignment, “the attorney for the government and the defendant's attorney must confer and try to agree on a timetable and procedures for pretrial disclosure under Rule 16”.

Marrero said in his order that Gupta had failed to identify any authority suggesting that a defendant had a right to discovery before arraignment.

“Gupta has not yet been arraigned in this case, and the government is currently seeking Gupta's extradition from the Czech Republic to the United States,” Marrero said.

He added that the government had assured the court that it is “prepared to produce discovery promptly upon the defendant's appearance in this district and arraignment on this case”.

“Accordingly, Gupta's motion is denied,” Marrero's order said. 

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