US court delays sentencing in Nikhil Gupta case over Pannun assassination plot

Sentencing for Nikhil Gupta, the Indian national who pleaded guilty in a US court in connection with a plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has been postponed to 25 September. Court records show the hearing had originally been scheduled for 29 May. Gupta's lawyer said the defence wants more time to review case material and argue for the "lowest possible" sentence.

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Gupta pleaded guilty in February in a case that could carry a sentence of 19 to 23 years, according to the material provided. His New York-based counsel, Isabelle Kirshner, said the defence had received a large amount of material during the case and needed time to review it, meet Gupta and prepare the strongest possible argument for the court. She said the judge must consider the sentencing guidelines as well as other factors, including the nature of the offence, the defendant's health and age, and criminal history.

The case has already moved through several stages. Gupta has been held in Brooklyn since his extradition to the US from the Czech Republic in June 2024, after being arrested there a year earlier. He had initially pleaded not guilty, before changing his plea in February.

US prosecutors said at that time that he had acted at the direction of an Indian government employee to arrange the killing, and the guilty plea turned the case from allegation into an admission by an Indian citizen of involvement in an assassination plot on foreign soil. The postponement matters because the case sits at the intersection of criminal law and wider diplomatic tensions. Pannun is a prominent Khalistani separatist figure, and the allegations around the plot have drawn international attention since they emerged.

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Gupta's sentencing will be watched closely because it may shape how the court weighs the seriousness of the offence against the defence's request for leniency. The case also highlights the role of multiple legal systems in the same investigation. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic, extradited to the US and is now being sentenced in Brooklyn, showing how cross-border cooperation has been central to the proceedings.

The charges against him included murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering, all of which remain part of the record described in the court material. What remains unclear is how the judge will assess the defence request and whether any further filings will alter the timetable before 25 September. The court will ultimately decide the sentence after considering the guidelines and the arguments from both sides.

For now, the key issue is whether Gupta receives a term closer to the lower end of the range his lawyers are seeking or something nearer the level suggested by the case material.

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