US State Department sends notice to Indian Government in Pannun case

A new turn has emerged in the ongoing legal dispute between Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and the Government of India. Through a diplomatic note, the US State Department has formally delivered legal documents regarding Pannun's civil suit to the Indian Embassy in Washington. The State Department has informed the New York Federal Court that the delivery of the documents has been completed.

According to a News18 report, this civil suit was filed in September 2024. The Government of India, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Samant Goel, Vikram Yadav, Nikhil Gupta, and several unnamed individuals have been named as defendants in this case.

As per a report by The Hindu, on Monday, November 9, 2026, a US court permitted Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to send notices to NSA Ajit Doval and former RAW chief Samant Goel through the Indian judicial framework. This decision comes as the State Department stated that it has delivered the notices for both officials to the Indian Embassy in Washington.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India has explicitly rejected this move. The MEA maintains that such judicial documents should be sent directly to India's Ministry of Law and Justice. The Ministry has termed the entire claim as "frivolous" and baseless. On Tuesday, November 10, the MEA indicated that it is not concerned by the recent developments in the case and emphasized that the process of serving notice requires contacting the Ministry of Law directly, rather than the Embassy or the MEA.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated during a regular briefing, "We reject these imaginary and malicious attacks on our high-ranking officials, as well as this frivolous case. Requests to send judicial documents to India can only be processed through India's designated central authority, namely the Ministry of Law and Justice."

This civil suit has been filed by Pannun, who has been declared wanted by India on terrorism charges. The case is linked to an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into an alleged plot to assassinate him in June 2023. A confidential informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency mentioned conversations with senior Indian intelligence officials, including Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta and Vikram Yadav, discussing a conspiracy to hire a hitman to kill Pannun in New York.

According to a Mint report, Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court in February 2026 to charges of conspiracy to commit murder, murder-for-hire, and money laundering. Gupta, an alleged drug smuggler, was recruited in May 2023 by RAW official Vikram Yadav for the assassination. Gupta could face a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and US courts have set November 20 as the date for sentencing. Meanwhile, Vikram Yadav was arrested in Delhi in December 2023 on separate charges and was granted bail in April 2024.

FBI and Canadian officials, who are investigating the murder of separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver in June 2023, appear to have previously stepped back from claims regarding the involvement of senior officials, including Ajit Doval, Samant Goel, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Nevertheless, Pannun pursued his case and filed several petitions requesting the court to issue summons to Ajit Doval and Samant Goel.

Notably, in February 2025, when Ajit Doval visited Washington for a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a meeting with US President Donald Trump, Pannun attempted to serve him a notice, but the attempt failed.

While granting permission for the summons on Monday, November 9, US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla directed Pannun to prepare the necessary documents by November 30. This includes summons addressed to Ajit Doval and Samant Goel, details of Indian law and procedure, information on the channel through which the summons will be sent, and records of previous attempts to notify both officials under the Hague Convention.

The submission certificate delivered by the State Department to the Indian Embassy bore an official's signature and was dated October 9, 2026. The State Department clarified in a footnote that this delivery does not mean it is taking a "position" on the case, but is rather a "legal obligation."

Meanwhile, Pannun, General Counsel of the banned organization 'Sikhs for Justice' in India, claimed in August that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had warned him of a new and credible threat to his life. Pannun, a dual citizen of the US and Canada, stated that FBI agents visited him on August 12 and advised him not to travel until the threat was neutralized, or to inform the agency in advance if he did. Pannun claims this warning was given under the US "Duty to Warn" law, which mandates intelligence and law enforcement agencies to notify an individual when they become aware of a specific threat of murder, serious bodily harm, or kidnapping.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is the General Counsel of 'Sikhs for Justice', an organization declared an unlawful association and banned by the Government of India. Pannun has long been a supporter of Khalistan separatism and has been declared wanted by the Indian government on serious charges of terrorism.