Published Jan 04, 2024 | 1:50 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 04, 2024 | 1:50 PM
Supreme Court of India. (iStock)
The Supreme Court on Thursday, 4 January, rejected a plea for consular access moved by a family member of Indian national Nikhil Gupta, who has been accused of plotting an assassination attempt on Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.
In about May 2023, Gupta was recruited by an individual to orchestrate the assassination of the victim in the United States.
Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta on 30 June 2023, under the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said, “There is nothing much we can do. You are entitled to consular access under the Vienna Convention, which you have already got.”
The bench told senior advocate CA Sundaram, appearing for the kin of Gupta, that the court should respect the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the foreign court and law of that land and, therefore, it cannot go into the merit of the matter.
“We will not allow you to speak anything about the foreign court,” the bench told Sundaram when he tried to submit that Gupta had been placed under solitary confinement and was not granted any consular access post his indictment.
The bench noted that on 17 September 2023, Gupta received consular access in the matter and he has also moved the Delhi High Court, where certain orders have been passed.
On 29 November 2023, Gupta was charged by federal prosecutors in the United States in connection with his alleged participation in a foiled plot to assassinate Pannun on American soil.
Gupta, 52, has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Matthew G Olsen said.
US authorities said Gupta agreed to pay an assassin $100,000 to kill the Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.
“On or about 9 June 2023, CC-1 and GUPTA arranged for an associate to deliver $15,000 in cash to the UC in Manhattan, New York, as an advance payment for the murder,” according to the charges.
The plot was directed by an Indian government employee who has described himself as a “senior field officer” with responsibilities in “security management” and “intelligence” and also claims to have served in the Central Reserve Police Force and been trained in “battle craft” and “weapons,” the indictment had said.
On 29 November, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said the US side shared some “inputs” pertaining to the nexus between organised criminals, gun runners and terrorists and that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on “our national security interests as well” and that relevant departments were examining the issue.
India constituted a high-level enquiry committee on 18 November to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter, he said.
India on 30 November, described as a “matter of concern” the US charging the Indian national with conspiring to kill the Sikh separatist, and asserted that a high-level probe committee will investigate all aspects of the case.
The US welcomed as “good and appropriate” India’s decision to announce a high-level probe, and also said, this will not have an impact on the India-US relationship.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too said, “India’s commitment is to the rule of law and if someone gives information, it would look into it,” while speaking to the Financial Times.
At the same time, Modi said: “There is strong bipartisan support for the strengthening of this relationship, which is a clear indicator of a mature and stable partnership.
“I don’t think it is appropriate to link a few incidents with diplomatic relations between the two countries,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
