Nikhil Gupta Sought Dismissal of Charges, Lawyers Say Filing Was ‘Inadvertent'
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Nikhil Gupta Sought Dismissal of Charges, Lawyers Say Filing Was 'Inadvertent'
Devirupa Mitra
39 minutes ago
Pre-trial proceedings for Gupta, who is accused of plotting to hire a hitman on behalf of a former Indian intelligence officer to assassinate US citizen and Khalistani separatist lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, are scheduled to begin this month.
File image. A screengrab from a video released on June 18, 2024 by Czech police, of the extradition of Nikhil Gupta to the US.
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New Delhi: In an unexpected twist ahead of his trial later this year, jailed Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta submitted a signed letter to a federal New York judge seeking dismissal of his indictment, only for his lawyer to inform the court that the filing had been made 'inadvertently.'
Gupta, who is accused of plotting to hire a hitman on behalf of a former Indian intelligence officer to assassinate US citizen and Khalistani separatist lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, is scheduled to go on trial in November, with pre-trial proceedings set to begin later this month. He has been in US federal custody since June 2024, following his arrest at Prague airport and subsequent extradition from the Czech Republic.
The former Research and Analysis Wing officer Vikas Yadav is also charged in the indictment, but his whereabouts in India are still unknown.
On May 29, the court formally received Gupta's seven-page letter, in which he asked the judge to throw out the charges against him and release him immediately on bail. The move raised eyebrows, as Gupta submitted the motion himself despite being represented by court-appointed attorneys.
In his letter, emailed to the court, Gupta argued that the indictment was legally flawed because it did not cite a specific state or federal law that would have been broken had the alleged murder-for-hire plot been carried out. He also contended that his extradition from the Czech Republic was invalid because it was based on what he called a 'defective' indictment.
The next day, Judge Victor Marrero of the Southern District of New York asked defence counsel whether they were aware of the pro se motion and whether Gupta truly intended to proceed with it. The judge noted that not only was Gupta already represented by two lawyers, who were appointed by the court, but that they had already decided on a pre-trial motion schedule.
'Defense Counsel is directed to confirm whether they are aware of Defendant's filing and whether it is Defendant's wish to proceed with the Pro Se Motion,' said Judge Marreo in his order dated May 30.
Incidentally, Gupta is now on his third set of defence lawyers since arriving in the United States. His first lawyer withdrew in October last year, citing non-payment and 'irreconcilable differences' with client. The next set, appointed by the court at Gupta's request, remained on the case for about five months. His current lawyers, also court-appointed, have been representing him since April.
In response to the judge's order, Matthew LaRoche and Nola B. Heller submitted a letter on May 30 itself, stating they had spoken with Gupta and that he had confirmed he was 'very satisfied with our representation' and did not wish to move forward with the self-filed motion. As for the filing, the lawyers said Gupta had 'inadvertently filed it.'
However, the prosecution recommended, as per the letter, that the judge confirm Gupta's position in open court at the next pretrial conference. They said the judge should ask Gupta directly if he was satisfied with his lawyers and whether he still wished to withdraw the motion. The defence disagreed, saying Gupta's position had already been clearly conveyed.
When contacted by The Wire, Matthew LaRoche declined to comment.
Speaking to The Wire, former assistant US attorney and a partner at New York law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, Jacques Semmelman, said that that the argument 'in Mr Gupta's letter to the court, that a defective indictment makes the extradition invalid and requires his release, is entirely incorrect'
'There is no remedy in the US legal system that provides what he's asking for. I am not agreeing that his indictment is defective as he claims, but even if it were defective, that would not invalidate the extradition. Once he is here, the US court does not inquire how he arrived,' he said.
Semmelmans also noted that Nikhil Gupta has an 'extremely well-regarded defense attorney, Mr. LaRoche'. 'He's a top criminal defense attorney at a very prominent law firm, Milbank. Mr Gupta has top-notch representation,' he added.
A week after the court acknowledged the letter, the federal judge on June 6 accepted the defence's request to withdraw Gupta's motion to dismiss all charges.
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