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, which names National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Samant Goel among the defendants.
The summonses were reportedly delivered to the Indian Embassy in Washington DC through diplomatic channels following directions from a US court.
The State Department has confirmed in a filing before the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 28 that the summonses had been delivered.
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 banned organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), 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 State Department has clarified that the transmission of the diplomatic note is a procedural step and does not indicate any position on the ongoing civil case.
India has dismissed Pannun's lawsuit as "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" and consistently rejected allegations linking its officials to the alleged assassination plot.
Lawsuit follows US investigation
The civil 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.
Gupta was arrested in Prague in June 2023 and extradited to the US. The US Justice 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, and other conspirators.
Gupta 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.
Following the US investigation, the Indian government constituted a committee to examine the evidence and issues raised by American authorities in connection with the alleged assassination plot.
India-designated terrorist
The Union home ministry designated Pannun as a terrorist and declared the SFJ an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2019.
The SFJ 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.
The alleged assassination plot against Pannun and the 2023 killing of another India-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada have triggered diplomatic challenges for New Delhi.
While India has maintained that it has no links to the alleged plots, its diplomatic relations with Canada deteriorated sharply after Ottawa raised allegations against Indian officials in the Nijjar killing.
New Delhi maintained that Canada had not shared evidence linking Indian officials to the assassination. Both countries subsequently expelled and withdrew diplomats from their respective missions.
MEA calls Pannun's US lawsuit 'fabricated, malicious'
The ministry of external affair spoke out against the allegations on Tuesday.
"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," Jaiswal said.
