A US federal court has cleared the way for pro-Khalistan separatist lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to serve legal summons on Indian National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Goel through Indian courts. Photo: Collected
A US federal court has allowed Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to pursue serving his civil lawsuit on Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Goel through Indian courts, while New Delhi has rejected the allegations against its senior officials.
The development comes after the US State Department confirmed that it had transmitted a summons and complaint against the Indian government to the Indian Embassy in Washington through diplomatic channels.
In a filing before the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the State Department said the documents were delivered to the embassy on 9 October under a diplomatic note signed on 30 September, reports The Telegraph.
Separately, on 9 November, US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla approved Pannun’s request to serve summonses on Doval and Goel through Indian courts with jurisdiction over the areas where the two officials are believed to reside.
The court allowed the documents to be transmitted through the US judiciary to the relevant Indian courts, following several unsuccessful attempts by Pannun’s lawyers to serve Doval personally during his official visits to the United States.
Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of External Affairs rejected the lawsuit and the allegations against its officials on Tuesday (10 November).
“We reject the fabricated and malicious attacks on our high officials. Also, we reject the frivolous lawsuits. A request for serving of judicial documents in India can only be routed through India’s designated central authority, that is the Ministry of Law and Justice,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, according to The Telegraph.
The State Department clarified that transmitting the diplomatic note was a procedural step and did not indicate any position on the merits of the civil case or the validity of the service.
US court approves alternative route to serve Doval, Goel
In its 9 November order, the court accepted Pannun’s argument that Article 19 of the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents allows foreign judicial documents to be served through India’s domestic judicial system.
The judge also referred to Section 29(c) of India’s Code of Civil Procedure, which allows summons issued by foreign civil courts to be sent to Indian courts and served as though they had been issued by those courts.
Pannun identified three possible courts in Delhi to receive the summonses for Doval and Goel: Patiala House Court Complex, Dwarka Courts Complex and Tis Hazari Court Complex.
“The Court agrees with Plaintiff that Article 19 of the Hague Convention authorises service on Doval and Goel through service of summons mailed to those courts,” Failla wrote.
Under the order, Pannun must submit a proposed packet by 30 November containing copies of the summonses, the proposed method of service, relevant Indian legal provisions and documents showing that earlier attempts to serve the officials under Article 5 of the Hague Convention had been unsuccessful.
Once the court approves the packet, its clerk will transmit the documents to the Indian courts identified by Pannun.
Case follows US investigation into alleged assassination plot
The civil lawsuit, filed in September 2024, names the Government of India, Doval, Goel, former RAW officer Vikash Yadav, Nikhil Gupta and 50 unnamed defendants.
Pannun alleges that they conspired to assassinate him at his home in New York in retaliation for his advocacy of an independent Sikh state. The allegations have not been established in court.
The civil case is separate from the criminal prosecution of Gupta, who pleaded guilty in February 2026 to three charges, including murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Gupta was arrested in Prague in June 2023 and extradited to the United States. US prosecutors accused him of conspiring with Yadav and others to hire a hitman to kill Pannun.
Yadav, a former junior RAW officer, was charged by the US Justice Department in October 2024 and is also facing a case in India. US authorities have alleged that he contacted Gupta to arrange the killing.
Gupta is scheduled to be sentenced on 20 November. Prosecutors have said they plan to present a victim-witness statement and audio and video evidence during the hearing.
Following the US investigation, the Indian government formed a committee to examine the evidence and issues raised by American authorities concerning the alleged assassination plot.
Pannun is legal counsel for the banned organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which advocates an independent Sikh state. India’s Union Home Ministry designated him a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2019 and declared the SFJ an unlawful association.
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