New Delhi: Citing the expected volume of pre-trial motions, US prosecutors and defence lawyers for Nikhil Gupta – accused of hiring a hitman on behalf of a former Indian intelligence officer to target a US citizen – have proposed delaying his trial to November 2025, instead of mid-year as initially suggested by the judge.
Gupta, an Indian national, has been charged with playing a critical role in the alleged assassination plot directed by Vikash Yadav, an Indian government official.
While US court documents do not name the intended target, it is widely believed to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer for the US-based group Sikhs for Justice, which India has banned for its pro-Khalistan activities.
Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and extradited to the US almost a year later.
In a February 28 order, Judge Victor Marrero of the southern district of New York asked both sides to provide their views on a proposed trial date in June or July 2025, along with an estimated trial length and a schedule for pre-trial submissions.
Acting US attorney Matthew Podolsky submitted a joint letter on behalf of both parties on March 21, stating that the judge’s proposed timeline was too short, as pre-trial motions alone would take at least six months.
“To ensure sufficient time for the briefing and resolution of these motions, and to account for various scheduling issues for both parties, the parties respectfully propose a trial date in November 2025, rather than June or July 2025,” the letter stated.
Both sides also estimated that the trial would last about two weeks.
According to the schedule submitted, Gupta’s defence lawyers will file motions under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12, which covers issues such as dismissing charges, suppressing evidence or challenging jurisdiction.
At the same time, prosecutors indicated they would file an “ex parte classified motion pursuant to Section 4 of the Classified Information Procedures Act.”
This means the government would submit a motion in a sealed envelope directly to the judge without notifying the defence to protect classified material from being fully disclosed.
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These legal steps are set to take place by May 15, followed by a series of deadlines leading to a hearing in August.
Six weeks before trial, standard pre-trial filings will be submitted to address legal and procedural matters, including jury selection.
The first indictment, which named Gupta as a defendant, was unsealed in November 2023.
A year later, in October 2024, a second indictment named former Research and Analysis Wing officer Yadav as the mastermind behind the plot and added money laundering charges against Gupta.
At a court conference last June, the assistant US attorney stated that the evidence against Gupta to be presented at trial includes his seized phone and its communications with Yadav, who was initially referred to as ‘CC-1’ in chargesheets.
The prosecution also has “recorded video, audio and text communications” between Gupta and the supposed hitman – who was actually an undercover officer – as well as another associate who was an informant.
While the chargesheet only contained a photograph of hands exchanging $15,000 in cash as an advance payment from Gupta, government lawyers said they also had video and audio recordings of the transaction.
Additionally, according to the prosecution, the evidence includes “emails and other electronically stored information from accounts belonging to CC-1,” identified as Yadav.
Since Yadav’s name surfaced in the October 2024 indictment, his whereabouts in India remain unknown. He had been released on bail in an unrelated extortion case in April 2024.
Five days before Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration in January, the Indian government implicitly accepted the evidence against Yadav when a high-level government committee recommended “legal action” against “an individual”.
On Monday, the Delhi police informed a city court that further investigation was required in the extortion and attempted murder case against Yadav as investigators had yet to analyse newly accessed call detail records linked to him.
The only indication of the new Trump administration’s stance on the Pannun case came in February, just hours before the Indian prime minister’s meeting with the US president at the White House, when a senior White House official asserted that prioritising “the safety of every American” remained the administration’s “continued” position.
Since then, there has been no mention to the case in any readout of meetings between senior US and Indian officials.
