A US court has issued a summons to the Indian government following a civil lawsuit filed by Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who claims there was a plot to assassinate him.
The summons, issued by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, names several people including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, former R&AW chief Samant Goel, R&AW agent Vikram Yadav, and Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta.
The Indian government has been asked to respond to the summons within 21 days, though no official response has been made yet, international media reported.
Last year, the Financial Times reported that US authorities thwarted a plot to kill Pannun, who leads the extremist group Sikhs for Justice and holds US and Canadian citizenship.
The Biden administration later confirmed the report, while India’s External Affairs Ministry initiated a high-level investigation into the matter. Despite these developments, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said that this incident would not derail the positive trajectory of India-US relations.
Nikhil Gupta, accused of orchestrating the assassination attempt, pleaded not guilty in June after being extradited from the Czech Republic.
US prosecutors allege that Gupta conspired with an unnamed Indian government official, referred to as CC-1, who is described as a senior intelligence officer.
Court documents suggest Gupta, an Indian national, was involved in international drug and arms trafficking. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco called the plot a brazen attempt to silence Pannun for exercising his freedom of speech.
