Prague, 20 Jan

A Czech high court has ruled that Indian national Nikhil Gupta, detained in a prison here on murder-for-hire charges in an alleged assassination attempt on a Khalistani extremist on American soil, can be extradited to the US, according to local media reports.

Gupta, 52, was charged by US federal prosecutors in an indictment unsealed in November last year with working with an Indian government employee in an alleged plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual US and Canadian citizenships, on American soil.

Gupta, arrested in the Czech Republic on 30 June last year, is currently held in Prague's Pankrak prison. The Prague High Court confirmed in a closed session that Gupta can be extradited to the US, the Seznam.cz web portal reported on Friday.

Prague High Court's order came as it rejected Gupta's appeal against a December decision by a lower court that ruled that extradition was allowed. A spokesman for the Prague High Court declined to immediately comment. Minister of Justice Pavel Blazek now has the final say on whether Gupta will be extradited to the US. He has yet to give his consent to the extradition, the portal reported.

Gupta's lawyer Petr Slepicka at the Prague High Court said they will still file a complaint with the Constitutional Court. Gupta claimed that his case had a political or military background.
In the indictment, US investigators claimed that Gupta was hired by an Indian government agent.

According to Slepicka, it was supposed to be a "task" most likely financed by the Indian government. But High Court rejected this claim. According to Judge Vladimir Kral, this case cannot be viewed as a political case. "It is absurd to think that a state that presents itself as democratic and governed by the legal order and international treaties would choose such means as the murder of a citizen of another state on its territory to solve its problems and in time of peace," the portal quoted the judge as saying.