The highest court of the Czech Republic has halted the extradition of Indian national Nikhil Gupta to the US, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. The lower courts had ordered Gupta's extradition to the US, which has indicted him for plotting to kill Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The Constitutional Court in Prague, in its interim decision dated January 30, 2024, said Gupta's extradition to the US for criminal prosecution would result in disproportionately greater harm to him than anyone else, the report said. The court stated that the extradition would be irreversible, even if it upholds Gupta's challenge.
Czech Ministry of Justice's spokesperson Markéta Andrová told IE that this interim decision means the Minister of Justice cannot decide on extradition or refusal until the Constitutional Court decides on the merits of the complaint filed by Nikhil Gupta.
Gupta was arrested in Prague on June 30, 2023, at the request of the US law enforcement agency. The US, in its indictment filed in November last year, described Gupta as an Indian drug and weapons trafficker who was allegedly enlisted to hire a hitman to kill Pannun, a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City.
On January 19 this year, Gupta challenged the decisions of the Municipal Court in Prague and the High Court - both of which had admitted America's request for his extradition. However, Gupta's lawyer reportedly argued that the Municipal Court and the High Court did not properly assess the political nature of the act.
The head of the Czech Constitutional Court said that suspending the enforceability of the contested decisions means that the top court "needs to acquaint itself with the matter". "It thus preventively protects the fundamental rights of the complainant whose rights might be irreversibly infringed upon, until it decides, as the case may be, on the merits," the officer was quoted as saying by IE.
The Washington Post recently reported that in court filings in India, Gupta's family members describe him as an innocent "middle-class businessman" whose arrest was a case of mistaken identity. They said he traveled to Prague "for tourism" and to explore new markets for a "handicraft" business, according to the court filings.
The US media report also named a RAW officer, who allegedly directed Gupta to hire a contract killer to eliminate Pannun. However, India's External Affairs Ministry trashed the report, saying it made "unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter".
"There is an ongoing investigation of the High-Level Committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful," said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.