‘Nothing Much We Can Do’: SC Rejects Nikhil Gupta’s Plea, Detained for Alleged Plot to Assassinate Khalistani Separatist Pannun

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a plea for consular access filed by a family member of Indian national Nikhil Gupta.

Gupta is accused of conspiring to carry out an assassination attempt on Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun within the United States.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta stated, “There is nothing much we can do. You are entitled to consular access under the Vienna Convention, which you have already received.”

The bench, addressing senior advocate CA Sundaram representing Gupta’s kin, emphasized the need for the court to respect the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the foreign court. Consequently, the court stated its inability to delve into the merits of the matter.

“We will not allow you to speak anything about the foreign court,” the bench informed Sundaram when he attempted to highlight that Gupta had been subjected to solitary confinement and had not been granted consular access following his indictment.

The court acknowledged that Gupta had received consular access on September 17, 2023, and had also approached the Delhi High Court, where certain orders had been issued. Gupta was apprehended in the Czech Republic on June 30.

On November 29, 2023, federal prosecutors in the United States charged Gupta in connection with his alleged involvement in a thwarted plot to assassinate Pannun on American soil.