The Supreme court on 15 December adjourned the matter of the petition filed by the Nikhil Gupta's family to 4 January.
Nikhil Gupta, who is being held in the Czech Republic after being charged by the US with plotting to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has knocked doors of the Supreme Court.
As per the Live Law report, a habeas corpus petition was filed in the top court on behalf of Gupta, requesting the Indian government to intervene and free him from custody.
The bench headed by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SV Bhatti were hearing the petition. During the hearing, the Justices gave a prima facie opinion, stating that the petitioners would need to go through the Czech Republic court where Gupta is being held.
"You have to go before the court which is outside India. Go over there. We are not going to have an adjudication over here. The person detained has not given the affidavit. If there is violation of any law etc you have to go to court over there," the Court as quoted by the Bar and Bench report.
During his detention, the petitioner has alleged that Gupta was compelled to eat meat and pork, which went against his religious convictions. He further alleged that Gupta was refused access to consulates, the freedom to consult with legal counsel, and the ability to communicate with his family in India, the report stated.
The US federal prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta of working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. India has already constituted a probe team to investigate the allegations.
The US Justice Department had claimed that an Indian government employee, who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited a fellow native, identified as Nikhil Gupta, to hire a hitman to allegedly assassinate Pannun. It added that the alleged plot was foiled by the US authorities.
The Justice Department claimed that Gupta, an associate of CC-1 (an unidentified person who directed the alleged plot), described his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking in his communications with CC-1.
The indictment claims CC -1 directed the assassination plot from India. An inquiry team has already been put together in India to look into these claims.
Gupta is currently in custody and has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, pursuant to the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.
Back in September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had made an explosive allegation of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June. India has strongly rejected the allegations.
Gupta is currently in custody and has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, pursuant to the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.
