Approach Czech court, SC tells family of Indian man accused in murder plot of Sikh separatist in US

The Supreme Court on Friday told the family of Nikhil Gupta, who was accused by the United States of conspiring to assassinate a Sikh separatist in New York, to approach a court in the Czech Republic for any relief, reported Bar and Bench.

“We are not going to have an adjudication over here,” said a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SV Bhatti. “The person detained has not given the affidavit. If there is a violation of any law etc you have to go to court over there.”

The court posted the case for January 4.

On November 29, the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, announced that it had filed “murder-for-hire charges” against Gupta, an Indian national, in connection with his alleged participation in a thwarted plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

A statement released by the US Attorney’s Office alleged that Gupta had been recruited by an Indian government employee, who “directed a plot to assassinate on US soil an attorney and political activist who is a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City”.

Though the statement did not name the citizen, a report in the Financial Times on November 23 identified him as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun....

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