Pannun murder plot: Gupta pleads not guilty, asks for Hindi-speaking lawyer, return of prayer book

New York, Oct 19 (IANS) Nikhil Gupta who has been accused of trying to hire a hitman to attack Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has reiterated his innocence and asked a federal judge for a Hindi-speaking lawyer saying that he was not fluent in English.

Appearing in a federal court here on Friday, he asked the court through his lawyer for the return of a prayer book that had been confiscated from him after his arrest in the Czech Republic.

The proceedings were procedural and Judge Victor Marrero set the next court date on January 17 at the request of Gupta's lawyer Jeffrey Chabrowe, who asked for more time to study the evidence produced by the prosecution.

As a procedural matter, Gupta was asked by the judge whether he pleaded guilty or not to the charges against him and he said he is not guilty, which means a full trial will go ahead.

The three charges he faces are: conspiracy to hire a hitman, the actual "murder-for-hire" plot, and money laundering.

He had earlier made the same plea professing his innocence in June at his first court appearance after he was extradited to the US from the Czech Republic where he had been detained at the request of the US.

Since a revised indictment -- the charges and complaint -- had been filed on Thursday naming former RAW official Vishal Yadav, a co-defendant, the process of arraigning him -- have the charges read, informing of his rights, and asking him if he was guilty -- had to be gone through again.

Gupta made his not-guilty plea three times because of confusion over what the judge asked him and also if he had read the indictment.

Chabrowe told the judge that he had read him the entire indictment, but Gupta interrupted to say that he had not personally read it himself.

Marrero said that he would pause the proceedings to give him a chance to read it.

But after a whispered conversation with his lawyer, Gupta agreed to go ahead with the proceeding based on his lawyer having read it to him.

Although Yadav is a co-accused in the case, he is not in the US and therefore, could not be produced in court.

Yadav's name was made public as a co-accused in the alleged "murder-for-hire plot" in the revised charging document that was released a day after an Indian Enquiry Team looking into the matter visited Washington on Wednesday for discussions with US officials.

According to the document, Yadav was an assistant commandant in the Central Reserve Police Force and was working with RAW as a "senior field officer".

The trial of Gupta is expected to be conducted separately although Yadav is a co-accused and his absence would not impact the case, according to legal sources IANS spoke to.

The revised charges and complaint asserted that Yadav had directed Gupta to hire a hitman to kill Pannun.

But the person Gupta approached, thinking he was a criminal element, was a government informant who put him in touch with an undercover federal agent pretending to be a hitman for hire.

The plot unravelled and Gupta was caught when he proceeded to ask the undercover agent to carry out the attack and paid him an advance of $15,000.

Chabrowe conveyed another request from Gupta for access to the law library at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), a federal jail in Brooklyn.

He said that there were frequent lockdowns at MDC and his client needed access to the library to go through the voluminous evidence in the case that the prosecution has shared with the defence under US laws.

Alexander Li, the assistant federal prosecutor who led the prosecution team that included two other lawyers in the court, agreed to ask the MDC to give him access, and the judge said that if the difficulty persisted, Gupta can approach the court.

The MDC is a notorious detention facility for federal undertrials where there were two murders in June and July and inmates complain of bad conditions.

The rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs on trial for sex trafficking charges, and Sam Bankman-Fried, who is accused of multi-billion-dollar crypto fraud, are famous detainees now at the MDC.

It was also here that Jeffrey Epstein, the Hollywood mogul, was found dead while awaiting trial on sex charges, and the death was ruled a suicide.

The language issue came up twice during the proceedings.

When the judge asked him if he had read the indictment, he said, "I am not fluent in English", and that he did not have his glasses to personally read it.

At another point, he told the judge, "My English is not good."

A Hindi-speaking lawyer, if appointed, would be in addition to Chabrowe.

The issue of the personal items confiscated from Gupta came when he asked for his prayer book.

Li said that a prayer book was not found among the personal items that included magazines, and a novel, "The Optimist", as well as miscellaneous papers.

He said that they were handed over to a "privilege team" -- a panel of lawyers who would ensure that if there were any confidential communications with the lawyer, they would be shielded from the prosecution.

Photographs of the items were also shared with the defence, he said, adding that Chabrowe was welcome to examine them personally to see if the prayer book was among them.

Chabrowe suggested that the government ask the Czech authorities about the book and requested that he be given a prayer book in the meantime because it is a matter of his religious rights.

Gupta told the judge that he had written a letter to the court and did not know what happened to it.

Marrero said that any letters or communications to the court should be sent through his lawyer and his lawyer could add it to the docket – the collection of court papers.

Chabrowe told the judge that the evidence, including transcripts, were voluminous and he needed at least 45 days to study them and prepare for trial.

Li agreed to the delay and Marrero set the January 17 court date.

Gupta, wearing a tan half-sleeve shirt and pants from the jail, was led into the courtroom by US Marshals who had unshackled him outside.

He chatted briefly with his lawyer and made some remarks to the prosecutors while waiting for the judge.

The courtroom where his case is being heard is across the marbled hallway from the court of another judge, Indian-American Arun Subramanian.

About 20 Sikhs were in the courtroom to watch the proceedings, while outside there was a protest with Khalistani flags.

--IANS

al/sha