Plot to kill Khalistan separatist Pannun: 2 more courts to take call on Nikhil Gupta extradition, says his Prague lawyer

“He is still in Prague. He is currently in Pankrac prison. The municipal court has given a decision in favor of his extradition, but he (Gupta) has challenged this in the High Court. After this, he can go to the Constitutional Court. The final decision (of extradition) rests with the Ministry of Justice,” he said on the phone from Prague.

Explaining the legal road ahead for Gupta, Slepicka, a member of the law firm Petrásek & Slepicka in Prague, said that even if the three courts (municipal, high court, and constitutional court) issue three positive decisions in favor of extradition, the Ministry of Justice can still decide against extradition.

However, the Ministry cannot reverse three negative decisions against extradition into a positive one.

Slepicka, who has been representing Gupta in court for at least two months, told The Sunday Express that the municipal court’s decision came before the second indictment filed by the US authorities on November 29. The first indictment had few details of the crime alleged by the US, and, he believes, the revelations in the second indictment help his client’s case.

“You have to bear in mind that when the Municipal Court’s decision had come, it was based on the first indictment filed by the US authorities, which didn’t have any details of the case. Even the judges here didn’t know who was the victim and what was the nature of the alleged crime. With the second indictment, we now have more details, and I think it helps his (Gupta’s) case. There are political issues involved,” he said.

In the second indictment filed by the US Department of Justice in a federal court in Manhattan on November 29, the US government had charged Gupta with murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire to allegedly kill Pannun in New York.

Each count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison. He has been accused of conspiring with an Indian intelligence official, who has not been named and is referred to as CC-1 in the indictment.

On Friday, Gupta’s family approached the Supreme Court in India, seeking directions to the Union Government to intervene in the extradition proceedings pending against him in the Czech Republic.

The plea in SC said Gupta was “illegally detained” on June 30 at the Prague airport by “self-claimed US agents rather than Czech authorities”. This was followed by “over 100 days of solitary confinement,” it said, adding that what transpired during this time has “given rise to grave violations of his fundamental rights”.

The plea in SC further claimed that Gupta, “a devout Hindu and vegetarian, claims that he was subjected to forced consumption of beef and pork during his detention in Czech custody, a direct violation of his religious beliefs”. Gupta was also “denied consular access, the right to contact his family in India, and the freedom to seek legal representation,” it said.

Asked about the claims regarding Gupta being denied consular access and phone calls to the family, Slepicka said, “I know that he has been able to speak to his family. He has consular access now. I don’t know about his food situation (whether he was forced to have non-vegetarian food), but prison food here (in Prague) is not great.”

Asked about his client’s next steps, Slepicka said, “We haven’t received a next date of hearing. We are trying to get the Municipal Court’s order translated into a language he understands. But I have the order with me. We believe it’s a case of mistaken identity.”