India Rejects Pannun’s US Lawsuit as State Department Serves Doval and Ex-RAW Chief

New Delhi has strongly rejected a civil lawsuit filed in a New York federal court by Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun against National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former RAW chief Samant Goel, calling the allegations “fabricated and malicious”. The response came after the US State Department formally served the Government of India with summonses in the case, delivering the papers to the Indian Embassy in Washington through diplomatic channels.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday that India rejects both the allegations directed at its senior officials and the lawsuit itself. The move marks Delhi’s sharpest public rebuttal yet to a case linked to an alleged plot to assassinate Pannun, an India-designated terrorist, on American soil.

How the Summons Were Served

A New York court has allowed Pannun to pursue service of the lawsuit against Doval and Goel through courts in Delhi, setting a November 30 deadline for the process. Separately, the US State Department informed the court that it had delivered the legal papers to India’s embassy in Washington, stating it was legally required to serve the summonses but took no position on the case’s merits.

The State Department’s involvement is procedural. Legal experts note that serving a foreign government in US courts follows standard diplomatic practice, and the department’s refusal to comment on the substance of Pannun’s claims leaves the core allegations untested in Washington. The Hindu reported that the formal service of notice marks a new stage in the case, one in which Indian officials are now directly named parties in a foreign lawsuit.

India’s Position

India has consistently described Pannun as a terrorist operative whose activities are designed to damage the country’s sovereignty. The MEA’s “fabricated and malicious” formulation, repeated across multiple statements on Thursday, signals that New Delhi views the lawsuit as an extension of that same campaign rather than an independent legal proceeding. The named respondents include the country’s sitting NSA and a former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing.

The Times of India reported that the summonses cover both Doval and former RAW chief Goel, making them legally accountable to respond in a US court unless service through Delhi courts is accepted or challenged. A Moneycontrol report noted that the November 30 deadline applies to service through Indian courts, after which Pannun can move to have the case heard in absentia if the respondents fail to appear.