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New Delhi:
US-accused Nikhil Gupta has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court in the case of conspiracy to kill Sikh separatist and Khalistan terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Nikhil Gupta has requested the Supreme Court to ask the Indian government to intervene in the matter. Nikhil Gupta was arrested in June this year at the airport in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.
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Meanwhile, the Czech Republic government told NDTV that an Indian man accused in the alleged plot to kill Khalistan militant Gurpatwant Singh Pannu was arrested at the request of the US. The Czech government said the US had also appealed the extradition in August.
Allegation of 1 lakh dollar contract for Pannu’s murder
Recently, America has claimed that Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta gave a contract of one lakh dollars (about 83 lakh rupees) to a person to kill separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu in New York. Documents produced in a US court claimed that ‘Nikhil Gupta received instructions from an employee of the Indian government.’
The Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic said, “The Ministry of Justice can confirm that Nikhil Gupta was arrested. He was later taken into temporary custody in the Czech Republic upon appeal by the US competent authority. The US also requested his extradition. Nikhil Gupta.
Claim of violation of fundamental rights
Meanwhile, in a writ petition filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of Nikhil Gupta, his family claims that he was arrested by ‘self-proclaimed American agents’ without any arrest warrant. So far he has been denied a fair legal process. The petition said that he has been kept in solitary confinement, where his fundamental rights have been violated.
Demand of Indian counsel in application
Gupta has also sought an Indian lawyer to represent him in the US and the Czech Republic. At the same time, the Supreme Court has fixed January 4, 2024 as the date for hearing the case.