US rejects Nikhil Gupta’s plea to give defence papers in Gurpatwant Pannun case

New York, January 11

The US government has objected to providing defence material to Indian national Nikhil Gupta, detained in a Czech prison on murder-for-hire charges in an alleged assassination attempt on a Khalistani extremist, saying it will provide the information only upon his appearance in a New York court and arraignment in the case.

Rights violations in custody: lawyer

Indian national Nikhil Gupta is being subjected to human rights violations, including extended solitary confinement, while in custody in the Czech Republic, his lawyer has said in court documents.

Gupta (52) was charged by federal prosecutors here 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 citizenship, 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.

Gupta’s attorney filed a ‘Motion to Compel Production of Discovery’ on January 4 in the US District Court, Southern District of New York, requesting the court to direct federal prosecutors to provide “the defence material relevant to its ability to defend the instant charges”.

US District Judge Victor Marrero had on January 8 given the government three days to respond to the motion filed by Gupta’s attorney. The government, in its reply filed on Wednesday, said Gupta’s motion asking for discovery material should be denied.

“The government submits this letter in opposition to Gupta’s motion to compel discovery during the pendency of his extradition proceedings in the Czech Republic,” federal prosecutors said.

They said consistent with federal rules of criminal procedure, “the government is prepared to produce discovery promptly upon the defendant’s appearance in this district and arraignment on this case. Before then, however, the defendant is not entitled to discovery.”

In the government’s response, US Attorney Damian Williams said Gupta had identified no legal entitlement or justification for discovery at this time.

Gupta’s counsel in New York Jeff Chabrowe has said in his motion that the attorney representing Gupta in Prague in his extradition proceedings states that “no evidence or documentation of any sort has been given to him other than the US indictment itself”. He said Gupta has been interviewed in Prague “by groups of senior US agents on several occasions and continues to be interviewed”.