The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by an unidentified family member of Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national accused in the US of conspiring to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. The petition sought consular access and legal aid for Gupta to challenge his indictment and potential extradition. The Supreme Court deemed it a sensitive matter, emphasizing that the Indian government would decide the appropriate course of action. Citing public international law and court comity, the court refrained from intervening, respecting the jurisdiction of the foreign court handling the case.
Nikhil Gupta, a Delhi-based businessman, was arrested in the Czech Republic in 2023, facing charges of plotting the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The US alleged Gupta collaborated with a government agent, hiring an undercover cop posing as a hitman to carry out the murder.
In response to the serious allegations, the Indian government initiated an investigation, prompting Gupta’s family to approach the Supreme Court. They asserted that Gupta faced isolation in jail and was being compelled to consume meat and pork. The family argued that Gupta’s arrest lacked proper procedures, lacking a formal arrest warrant and involving individuals claiming to represent US interests rather than Czech authorities.
Nikhil Gupta’s family contended that during his initial detention, no formal arrest warrant was presented, and the arrest was carried out by individuals claiming to represent US interests rather than Czech authorities. Gupta was allegedly held in solitary confinement, prompting his family to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention.
Nikhil Gupta’s name surfaced in a US indictment on November 29, where he was charged with murder-for-hire for purportedly agreeing to pay $100,000 to an assassin to kill Pannun in New York. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, at the request of the US authorities.
