NEW DELHI: The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic has rejected Nikhil Gupta’s appeal against the High Court ruling allowing his extradition to the US.
Gupta is accused of involvement in the alleged plot to kill Khalistani leader and founder of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US. The SFJ has been outlawed by India and Pannun declared a terrorist under India’s anti-terror law.
Gupta was named in an indictment filed by US prosecutors last November, which alleged that he was working with an unnamed Indian government employee to plot the assassination of Pannun. He was arrested and detained on June 30, 2023. Indian officials have been given consular access to him on several occasions.
"The Constitutional Court has rejected the complaint lodged by Nikhil Gupta as prima facie unfounded. Therefore, the court upheld the decisions of the Municipal Court in Prague and the High Court in Prague on the admissibility of the extradition," said Vladimir Repka, spokesperson of the Czech Ministry of Justice.
The case will now be referred to the Minister of Justice Pavel Blazek who will decide on whether to allow Gupta’s extradition to the US.
The Municipal Court in Prague approved Gupta’s extradition to the US in November 2023, and this was followed by a similar ruling by the High Court in Prague in January 2024, which said the extradition would be "logical, factually correct and in accordance with the law and international treaty".
In his appeal against these decisions, Gupta contended that the lower courts had not sufficiently assessed the political nature of the act he was accused of. However, the Constitutional Court countered it and said the lower courts had very thoroughly dealt with extradition documents supplied by American authorities and, in response to objections by Gupta, also requested for additional information.