Indian officials have been given consular access on three occasions to Nikhil Gupta, the Indian national named in a US indictment over an alleged plot to kill Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun since he was detained in the Czech Republic in June.
The Indian side has also extended consular assistance to Gupta, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a regular media briefing in response to several questions regarding the Indian national, who is at the heart of the indictment filed by US prosecutors in a Manhattan court last month.
“An Indian national is currently in the custody of Czech authorities pending a request for extradition to the US. We have received consular access [on] at least…three occasions,” Bagchi said.
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“We are extending necessary consular assistance to the individual as per the requirement. And one family member has approached the Supreme Court, which is a separate issue,” he said.
The US indictment against Gupta alleged that an Indian government employee, who described himself as a “senior field officer” responsible for intelligence, had ordered the assassination of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) leader Pannun in New York. The SFJ has been outlawed by India and Pannun was declared a terrorist.
The indictment alleged that Gupta, acting on the instructions of the unnamed Indian official, contacted a person whom he believed to be a criminal associate but was a confidential source working with US law enforcement, for help in hiring a hitman to assassinate Pannun. The confidential source introduced Gupta to a purported hitman, who was an undercover US law enforcement officer, according to the indictment.
Bagchi said the Supreme Court is currently hearing the case filed by a family member of Gupta, and it would not be appropriate for the Indian side to “comment on jurisdictions and issues”. He added, “I think we’ll wait for what the Supreme Court has to say.”
Noting that the Supreme Court has said in a preliminary comment that Gupta’s kin should approach the appropriate court, Bagchi said, “But again, till we see something, I do not want to comment on this aspect.”
The Czech Justice Ministry has confirmed Gupta was apprehended and taken into provisional custody in the Czech Republic at the request of US authorities. The US subsequently submitted a request for his extradition in August for the “crime of conspiracy to commit murder for hire”.
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After a preliminary investigation, the Municipal Public Prosecution Office in Prague filed a motion to allow the extradition, and the Municipal Court in Prague ruled Gupta’s extradition to the US is admissible, Czech justice ministry spokesperson Vladimir Repka said.
“However, the decision of the Municipal Court in Prague is not yet in legal force,” Repka said.
“Any judicial authorities of the Republic of India have no jurisdiction in the matter in question, the case is under the jurisdiction of the competent authorities of the Czech Republic,” he added.
Repka also addressed allegations in the petition filed in the Indian Supreme Court by Gupta’s family member about him not having adequate legal representation and being provided an inappropriate diet in prison.
Gupta is being represented in the proceedings on his extradition by a defence counsel of his own choice named Petr Slepička, Repka said. The Czech justice ministry also has not received any complaints from Gupta that he was “provided with an inappropriate diet”, he added.
