Indian accused of plot to murder Pannun can be extradited to US, says Czech court

PRAGUE: A Czech court has ruled that Prague can extradite to the United States, the 52-year-old Indian man, Nikhil Gupta, who is accused by the United States of involvement in the alleged attempt to kill Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Czech-based media outlet Seznam Zpravy reported, citing judicial database Infosoud.

However, the extradition of Gupta, still requires the approval of Czech Justice Minister Pavel Blazek, the publication reported.

Gupta was detained in Prague in June last year on the basis of a bilateral US-Czech extradition treaty.

According to the Czech news website, Gupta is now in Prague's Pankrac prison.

The Prague High Court upheld the ruling made by the first-instance court during a closed hearing this week.

Referring to Pannun, Gupta's lawyer, Petr Slepicka in his argument at the Prague High Court stated, "In the opinion of the Indian government, he threatens the security of the Republic of India and is a comparable threat to it as Osama bin Laden is to the USA," reported Seznam Zpravy.

Gupta has argued in his claims that the case pertaining to Pannun plot has a political or military background. However, the judge rejected the defence argument that it was a political case.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, Vladimir Sepka, stated that it is unclear how long the decision-making process for Gupta's extradition will take.

"The time frame of the minister's decision cannot be predicted now," said Repka, according to Seznam Zpravy.

Meanwhile, Gupta's lawyer, Petr Slepicka, said that they will still file a complaint with the Constitutional Court.

"We will file a constitutional complaint and at the same time we will ask the Minister of Justice not to extradite my client to the USA," the lawyer stated.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India on January 4 declined a petition filed on behalf of Gupta for consular access, legal aid and ongoing extradition proceedings in the Czech Republic.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta termed it a "sensitive" matter and said it was for the Central government to take a call if it wants to intervene on the issue.

The bench said it should respect the jurisdiction of the foreign court where the matter is pending.

"There is nothing much we can do. This is an international matter, and all aspects are covered under the Vienna Convention. If consular access is not granted, authorities can be approached directly. However, as per your own list of dates, consular access was given to you twice," the bench told C Aryama Sundaram, representing the kin of Gupta.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an India-designated terrorist who holds American and Canadian citizenship.

As per the US Justice Department indictment, Indian national Nikhil Gupta is currently in custody and has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Czech authorities had arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, pursuant to the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.

The US Justice Department had claimed that an Indian government employee, who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, had recruited Indian national Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to allegedly carry out assassination of Panun, which was foiled by US authorities.

The US Justice Department claimed that Gupta, is an associate of CC-1 (an unidentified person who directed the alleged plot), and has described his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking in his communications with CC-1.

The indictment claims CC -1 directed the assassination plot from India.