New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday, November 16, granted exemption from hearings for about three months to Vikash Yadav, who is facing charges in India for an extortion case and is wanted by the US Department of Justice for alleged involvement in a “murder-for-hire” plot and money laundering linked to pro-Khalistan separatist lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The court on Saturday accepted Yadav’s plea citing threats to his life and directed him to appear for the next hearing on February 3, 2025, reported the Indian Express.
The newspaper reported that Yadav’s application, filed through advocate R.K. Handoo, claimed that his life is at risk due to his photographs and residential address being publicly accessible. Yadav argued that even appearing via video conferencing could compromise his safety as the location could be traced. He attached media reports to buttress his claim for exemption from hearing.
In November 2023, US authorities had unsealed an indictment that charged an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, for charges of attempted murder of Pannun. The charges observed that Gupta was directed by an Indian government official, who was then identified only as “CC-1.”
A Delhi Police FIR shows that Yadav was arrested three weeks after the unsealing of the indictment on December 18 on charges of kidnapping and extortion. He was released on bail by a Delhi court after four months in Tihar Jail in April this year.
Last month, the US prosecutors unsealed a second indictment that directly charged “CC-1,” now identified as Vikash Yadav, an official at the cabinet secretariat under the prime minister’s office.
The Ministry of External Affairs later stated that he was “no longer an employee of the government of India.” However, the government has yet to disclose his current whereabouts.
The next hearing in the Delhi Court will, of course, take place after Donald Trump’s second presidential term will be officially inaugurated.
When The Wire had visited Yadav’s village in Haryana in October, his family had said that he had called them immediately and told him that he was “safe and sound,” but did not reveal his whereabouts.
The US indictment had also indicated that the alleged conspiracy to assassinate Pannun was part of a larger plan which also included the killing of Canadian Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the first to accuse India of involvement in Nijjar’s killing – an allegation India swiftly dismissed while taking measures that have effectively frozen political ties.
In contrast to its stance on the Canadian claims, India established a committee to investigate the US allegations of an Indian government official’s involvement. The panel even travelled to Washington last month. Indian officials explained the differing responses, stating that Canada had seemingly failed to provide any evidence to support its allegations.
