Court exempts ex-RAW officer from personal appearance

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court exempted on Monday former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer Vikash Yadav from personal appearance after he cited a threat to his life in a case of alleged attempt to murder and kidnapping.

Yadav was charged by the US department of justice (DoJ) with murder-for-hire and money laundering in connection with the alleged plot to kill pro-Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The court of additional sessions judge Sumit Dass granted Yadav exemption after hearing advocates R K Handoo and Aditya Chaudhary, who appeared for him.

The next hearing was scheduled for March 24. The court sought the presence of the case investigating officer, who could not attend Monday's hearing as he was occupied with Delhi assembly election duty.

This is the second time Yadav has requested an exemption from attending in person, and it was approved. The first request was made in Nov 2024 on the same grounds. In Dec 2023, less than three weeks after US DoJdocuments mentioned him as "CC-1 (co-conspirator)" in the case, Delhi police's special cell arrested Yadav and his associate, Abdullah Khan.

Both were booked under IPC Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 364A (abduction), 506 (threatening), 341 (wrongful confinement), and 328 (poisoning), and Secs 25 and 27 (punishment for certain offences related to arms and ammunition) of the Arms Act. Yadav was granted interim bail in March 2024, and regular bail on April 22, in the case.

This was after an FIR was filed against him by a Rohini resident accusing him of extortion and kidnapping and linking him to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The charge sheet in the matter was filed last year.