Washington/New Delhi: The US state department has reportedly served summonses to the Government of India in a civil lawsuit filed by India-designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The summonses name National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Samant Goel among the defendants, as reported by The Telegraph Online.
Following directions from a US court, the summonses were reportedly delivered to the Indian Embassy in Washington DC through diplomatic channels.
The summonses had been delivered, the state department has confirmed in a filing before the court for the Southern District of New York on October 28.
The department had sent a diplomatic note to the Indian Embassy on October 9, which was reportedly signed on September 30, 2026.
Pannun, legal counsel for the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) – a banned organisation in India – has filed the civil lawsuit seeking damages over an alleged attempt on his life.
He has accused Doval of orchestrating a plot involving India’s foreign intelligence agency, R&AW, to assassinate him.
The transmission of the diplomatic note is a procedural step and does not indicate any position on the ongoing civil case, the state department has clarified.
India has dismissed Pannun’s lawsuit as “unwarranted and unsubstantiated” and consistently rejected allegations linking its officials to the alleged assassination plot.
The case follows an investigation by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) into an alleged conspiracy to kill Pannun involving Indian national Nikhil Gupta, described as a drug and arms smuggler.
The department accused him of conspiring to hire a hitman to assassinate Pannun, allegedly working with Vikash Yadav, whom it identified as affiliated with R&AW at the time. Gupta was arrested in Prague in June 2023 and extradited to the US.
He pleaded guilty to three counts in February 2026, including murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering. His sentencing is scheduled for later this month.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has released information alleging direct links between Yadav and Gupta in the conspiracy. According to the agency, Yadav contacted Gupta to carry out the killing.
Yadav, a former junior R&AW officer, joined the CRPF in 2008 before being inducted by the cabinet secretariat. The US Justice Department charged him in October 2024. He is currently facing a case in an Indian court.
The Indian government constituted a committee to examine the evidence and issues raised by American authorities in connection with the alleged assassination plot, following the US investigation.
Pannun was designated a terrorist by India’s Union home ministry and the SFJ was declared an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2019.
The organisation and its members are associated with the Khalistan movement and operate in countries including the US and Canada. The group has called for violence against Indian diplomats and threatened attacks in India.
