New Delhi: The extradition of Indian national Nikhil Gupta — accused of attempting to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — to the United States, was authorised on suspicion of “committing the crime of murder for hire” and “committing the crime of conspiracy to commit a murder for hire”, Vladimir Repka, spokesperson Ministry of Justice, Czech Republic, told ThePrint.
According to Repka the minister of justice of the Czech Republic authorised the extradition of Gupta on 3 June and he was sent to the US on 14 June.
“After the final and binding decision of the Municipal Court in Prague dated November 23, 2023, in conjunction with the decision of the High Court in Prague dated January 8, 2024, regarding the admissibility of the extradition of Nikhil Gupta for criminal prosecution to the United States of America, the Minister of Justice of the Czech Republic authorised the extradition of Nikhil Gupta to the United States of America by a decision dated June 3, 2024,” Repka said.
“The extradition to the USA was authorised for criminal prosecution on suspicion of committing the crime of conspiracy to commit a murder for hire with the intent to cause death, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, § 1958(a), and the crime of murder for hire with the intent to cause death, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, § 1958(a),” he said in a response to ThePrint’s queries.
Gupta is currently lodged in a prison in Brooklyn. He is listed on the Board of Prisons inmate website as being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, which is a federal administrative detention facility with a register number “20301-511”. Arrested in the Czeck Republic last year at the request of the US government, Gupta is expected to be produced before a federal court in New York Monday.
The Czech Constitutional Court in May had rejected Gupta’s application challenging the extradition and upholding the decision by the two lower courts, paving the way for his extradition to the US.
According to the order (originally in Czech), the Constitutional Court concluded that it “did not find any circumstance for which declaring extradition admissible would lead to a violation of any of the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and freedoms”.
It further said that the decision was “logical, factually correct and in accordance with the law and international treaty”.
Gupta’s defence counsel had also asked the court to determine if he was acting as “soldier sui generis” in eliminating a terrorist for the Indian secret service and if he could have refused the order to kill Pannun.
The Czech court, however, had rebutted this argument stating that it found it unnecessary to consider whether Gupta was obligated to comply with the murder demand due to his potential connections to his country’s secret services.
According to a statement released by the Constitutional Court’s spokesperson (originally in Czech), “he (Gupta) presented this argument (for the first time) only in a constitutional complaint. The political or military dimension does not result either from the legal classification of the crime in question, or from the act itself, or the circumstances of its commission”.
“The argument that he was hired by an Indian government agent in charge of security matters, and therefore, probably a task assigned by the Indian government (where the person who committed the crime is a “sui generis soldier” eliminating a member of a terrorist movement) cannot be a reason to deny the applicant’s edition. As stated by the High Court, the applicant is not a political activist and the act was not aimed at a change in the organisation of public affairs,” it read.
On 19 January, 2024, Gupta had challenged the decisions of both the Municipal Court in Prague (dated 23 November, 2023), and the High Court in Prague (dated 8 January, 2024), that ruled positively on the admissibility of the US’s request for his extradition. He had argued that the courts did not “properly assess the political nature of the act”, and that the “extradition would lead to a violation of constitutionally guaranteed basic rights”.
In its interim decision dated 30 January, 2024, a copy of which is with ThePrint, the Constitutional Court had stayed any action against Gupta, saying that his extradition to the US for criminal prosecution would result in “disproportionately greater harm to him than anyone else”.
After the 30 January order, the matter was stayed, and the minister of justice could not decide on Gupta’s extradition.
The US has indicted Gupta, an Indian national, with conspiracy to murder Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who was a US citizen and a designated terrorist in India. Gupta was arrested by the Czech authorities on 30 June.
A document, filed in a New York district court, also alleged that an Indian government employee played a role in the “failed plot”.
US prosecutors say this “employee” directed the “assassination plot from India”.
The indictment claims that Gupta is involved in international narcotics and weapons trafficking, and was recruited by the said Indian government employee.
This is an updated version of the report.
Also read: Nothing to show US extradition would lead to rights violation — Czech court junks Nikhil Gupta plea