The Supreme Court will hear the appeal of Delhi-based businessman Nikhil Gupta against his arrest and ongoing extradition proceedings in the Czech Republic on January 4 in 2024.
Family member, who filed the petition, claimed that Nikhil despite being a devout Hindu and vegetarian was subjected to forced consumption of beef and pork during his detention in Czech custody.
Gupta has been accused by United States of conspiring to assassinate Bharat-designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti observed that Gupta has to approach the concerned court for relief, which is in the Czech Republic.
“You have to go before the court, which is outside Bharat. Go over there. We are not going to have an adjudication over here. The person detained has not given the affidavit. If there is a violation of any law, etc, you have to go to court over there,” said Justice Khanna.
Senior Advocate CA Sundaram, appearing for the petitioner, said he is only pressing for relief for adequate consular assistance as he is an Indian citizen.
Terming the case as “an extremely sensitive matter”, Justice Khanna said the Ministry of External Affairs will decide about it and the Bench proposed to hear the case “on January 4, after vacations”.
Points In Petition
Gupta, 52, was in Czech Republic on a business exploration trip when he was detained illegally at Prague airport on June 30.
From the beginning, the petitioner contends that the circumstances surrounding his arrest were marked by irregularities, with no formal arrest warrant presented, and the apprehension executed by self-claimed US agents rather than local Czech authorities.
Nikhil Gupta has been kept in solitary confinement for over 100 days.
The petitioner was not shown any arrest warrant during the initial detention. Instead, he found himself in the custody of individuals purporting to represent US interests.
The petitioner a devout Hindu and vegetarian, claims that he was subjected to forced consumption of beef and pork during his detention in Czech custody, a direct violation of his religious beliefs.
The petitioner alleges that he was denied consular access, the right to contact his family in Bharat, and the freedom to seek legal representation.
Nikhil Gupta is a law-abiding and peaceful citizen of Bharat, who resides in its capital New Delhi, along with my family consisting of his mother, wife and two children.
That the recent leaks of confidential information regarding the petitioner’s case at New York and the irresponsible reporting on the same has put an imminent threat to the life and well-being of the petitioner in Czech Republic and to his family at Delhi.
There have been numerous procedural violations threatening the fundamental rights and even the most basic human rights of the petitioner.
The petitioner is a middle-class businessman who runs a consultancy dealing with excavation and import-export.
In November, the US Justice Department disclosed the name of Nikhil Gupta as he was charged for his “participation in a foiled plot to assassinate a US citizen of Indian origin in New York”.
About Nikhil Gupta In US Document
The US document identified Nikhil Gupta as the man, who was in touch with an Indian Government employee on the assassination conspiracy.
The document said Gupta was involved in narcotics and weapons trafficking globally.
For the work, Gupta hired a hitman, who turned out to be an undercover cop. Subsequently, the assassination plot was foiled.
Nikhil Gupta operated from Bharat and as he arrived in the Czech, he was arrested.
NE Watch Desk
