Non-Bailable Warrant Against Former R&AW Officer Vikash Yadav Cancelled After Two Days
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday cancelled the non-bailable warrant against former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) officer Vikash Yadav, two days after it was issued.
Yadav was named by the United States in an alleged “murder-for-hire” plot and money laundering case, targeting New York-based Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
On Monday, Yadav failed to appear at the Patiala House Courts in a case of alleged kidnapping and extortion that was filed against him weeks after the US named him in the murder-for-hire plot, identifying him as CC-1 at the time.
According to the order passed on August 25, additional sessions judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler of Patiala House Courts noted that Yadav was absent “despite repeated calls since morning”. The court directed, “Issue NBWs against accused Vikas Yadav and notice to his surety under Section 491 BNSS (Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita) for October 17”.
Two days later, his lawyers moved an application explaining Yadav’s absence. They argued that the warrant was issued while a lawyers’ strike was underway, which is why he could not attend the hearing on Monday.
The court then cancelled the warrant and directed Yadav to appear on the next date of hearing, October 17.
Yadav had previously moved applications seeking exemption from appearing in court alleging a threat to his life. While these applications had been approved by the court, Yadav did not file a fresh application before the Monday hearing, prompting the warrant.
Background
In November 2023, US prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with attempting to murder Pannun, saying he was acting under the direction of an Indian government official identified at the time only as “CC-1.”
Three weeks later, on December 18, 2023, Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested Yadav in a separate case of kidnapping and extortion, based on a complaint by a Rohini resident. He was granted bail in April 2024 after spending four months in Tihar Jail. His whereabouts since his release are not known.
In October 2024, US authorities unsealed a second superseding indictment naming “CC-1” as Vikash Yadav, describing him as an official with the Cabinet Secretariat under the Prime Minister’s Office. The Ministry of External Affairs later said he was “no longer an employee of the government of India."
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