Pannun assassination plot: Nikhil Gupta’s counsel to seek ‘lowest possible’ sentence

4 min readNew DelhiJun 8, 2026 05:30 AM IST

A photo of Nikhil Gupta posted by the US DEA on X. (@DEANEWYORKDiv)

The sentencing of Nikhil Gupta, the Indian national who pleaded guilty in an American court earlier this year in the plot to assassinate Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has been postponed to September 25, according to US court records. The sentencing was initially slated for May 29.

Gupta pleaded guilty in February, in a case that could fetch him a sentence of 19 to 23 years. His counsel said the postponement was sought to allow more time to review case records and argue for the “lowest possible” sentence.

Responding to an emailed query from The Indian Express, Gupta’s New York-based counsel Isabelle Kirshner said: “There is a great deal of material that was provided to the defence attorneys during the pendency of the case that needs to be reviewed and, given that we did not enter the matter until after Mr. Gupta entered his guilty plea, we need more time to review that material, meet with Mr. Gupta and be sure that we are presenting the strongest possible argument to the Court.”

Gupta was charged with three counts: murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Kirshner said: “There are certain factors that the judge must take into consideration, including the sentencing guidelines. The judge must calculate the sentencing guidelines independently, and also take many other factors into account, such as the nature of the offence, the health and age of the defendant, criminal history, etc. In this case, our intention is to argue for the lowest possible sentence, which is our approach in all cases.”

Gupta has been held in Brooklyn since his extradition to the US from the Czech Republic in June 2024, where he had been arrested a year earlier. He had initially pleaded not guilty. However, his admission of guilt in February moved the case from the zone of unsubstantiated allegations to an admission by an Indian citizen of involvement in an assassination plot on foreign soil.

In February, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Gupta had pleaded guilty and that he worked at the direction of an Indian government employee to arrange the murder. “NIKHIL GUPTA, a/k/a ‘Nick,’ an Indian national, pled guilty to all three counts contained in the Second Superseding Indictment (by DoJ in 2024), charging him with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in connection with his efforts to murder a US citizen in New York City,” the statement said.

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The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York stated: “…Gupta is a citizen and was a resident of India, and has described himself as an international narcotics and weapons trafficker in electronic communications with Yadav and others. Yadav was employed by the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing.”

New Delhi has, on several occasions, dissociated itself from any plot against Pannun, calling it contrary to Government policy.

Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More

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