According to Czech media outlet Seznam Zpravy, which cited the judicial database Infosoud, a Czech court has said that Prague can extradite 52-year-old Indian national Nikhil Gupta to the United States. The United States accuses Gupta of being involved in an alleged attempt to kill Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Nevertheless, the publication stated that Pavel Blazek, the minister of justice in the Czech Republic, must still approve Gupta’s extradition.

Due to a bilateral extradition treaty between the US and the Czech Republic, Gupta was detained in Prague in June of last year.

As per the Czech news website, Gupta is currently lodged in Prague’s Pankrac prison.

During a closed hearing this week, the Prague High Court upheld the decision rendered by the first-instance court.

In his Prague High Court argument, referring to Pannun, Petr Slepicka, Gupta’s attorney, said, “In the opinion of the Indian government, he threatens the security of the Republic of India and is a comparable threat to it as Osama bin Laden is to the US”.

In his assertions, Gupta has maintained that there is a political or military context to the Pannun plot case. The judge, however, disregarded the defence’s claim that the case was political.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, Vladimir Sepka, stated that it is unclear how long the decision-making process for Gupta’s extradition would take.