Under pressure from both Washington and Ottawa, the Czech government is left with no option but to extradite Delhi-based Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, who has been imprisoned by Czech officials since 30 June 2023 for his alleged involvement in the assassination attempt of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. This is going to happen despite the US officials being unable to submit any proof in the Prague High Court to prove that Gupta was involved in this alleged murder plot.
Petr Fiala, the Prime Minister of Czech Republic, is likely to give the permission to send Gupta to the US despite no credible evidence being present that proves Gupta being involved in the “fictional” attempt to kill Pannun, a banned terrorist in India.
Last week, the Prague High Court, in what was being seen as a foregone conclusion, ruled that Gupta could be extradited to the US so that he could be tried for his alleged role in what the US officials have called a hit against Pannun that was allegedly sanctioned by Indian intelligence agencies.
The developments in the case, the allegations of which were raised by the Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau administrations with New Delhi, are being keenly watched by global powers.
Prague-based sources told The Sunday Guardian on Saturday that after the Court’s decision is delivered to all parties, all file material in the case will be submitted to the Czech Ministry of Justice, Pavel Blažek, who will then decide whether or not to allow the 52-year-old Gupta’s extradition to the US at a later date or immediately.
Sources said that if the Minister of Justice has doubts about the correctness of the court’s decision in the matter, he has the option to submit a proposal to the Supreme Court to review their decision within three months from the day the matter was submitted to the Ministry.
“It is right now impossible to predict when the minister will make a decision,” a source told The Sunday Guardian, when asked when a decision by the minister was likely.
However, it is expected that this is a mere formality and Fiala, in order not to anger Washington and Ottawa, will extradite Gupta as soon as possible.
Earlier on 10 January the US government, while responding to a plea filed by the New York-based lawyer of Gupta, C. Jeffrey, told the Prague court that they couldn’t reveal the evidence that they had collected against Gupta to substantiate their allegations that he was plotting to kill Pannun.
This has raised valid questions in Delhi as to why the Prague High Court, despite no evidence being presented by the US officials to prove their theory about the murder plot, allowed Gupta’s extradition.
Documents accessed by The Sunday Guardian shows that the New Delhi-based Gupta has been subjected to torture of multiple nature from different quarters ever since his kidnapping and subsequent detention in Prague.
Sources aware of the matter said that the extradition of Gupta to the US was “more or less” inevitable given that it is now a more of a political decision that has to be taken by the Czech government.
This can only change if Government of India is able to solve this issue diplomatically before he boards the flight to the US. Once he is extradited to the US, he will be embroiled in a long and a tough legal fight to return to his family consisting of his wife, a daughter and a son.
“His family, understandably, is under immense stress. The high court in Prague rejected their appeal without informing Gupta or his lawyer and the order too was delivered abnormally fast. The order was an ex-parte and delivered in a closed door hearing,” said an official source aware of the matter.