India rejects Pannun lawsuit against NSA Doval as fabricated and malicious after US court order
The MEA said any service of judicial papers in India must go through the Ministry of Law and Justice, the country's designated central authority.
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India has rejected the Pannun lawsuit against National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former R&AW chief Samant Goel, a day after a US federal court allowed the Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to pursue service of summons on the two officials through Indian courts. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal responded at a media briefing on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, according to an ANI report.
What MEA Randhir Jaiswal said about the Pannun lawsuit
“We reject the fabricated and malicious attacks on our high officials,” Jaiswal said. He added: “Also, we reject the frivolous lawsuits.” The spokesperson said requests to serve judicial documents in India must go through the Ministry of Law and Justice, which is India’s designated central authority, Devdiscourse reported.
Key numbers and dates in the US court order
- 9 November: the date of the order by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to Devdiscourse.
- 30 November: the deadline for Pannun to submit a proposed packet, which the court will review before its clerk transmits it to the Indian courts.
- September 2024: the month Pannun filed the civil suit, per the same report.
- February 2026: the month Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in a separate US criminal case, according to ANI.
What the US court summons order allowed and what it did not decide
Judge Katherine Polk Failla presided over the order. It lets Pannun try to serve summonses on Doval and Goel through Indian courts. The packet he must file by 30 November is to include the summonses, a proposed service order, the relevant Indian legal provisions and records of earlier service attempts under the Hague Convention.
The reports describe the ruling as a decision on service procedure only. It is not a finding on the allegations in the suit.
Background: the 2024 suit and the Gupta case
Pannun filed the suit in September 2024. It names the Government of India, Doval, Goel, Nikhil Gupta, Vikash Yadav and other unnamed individuals, and alleges that Indian officials were involved in a 2023 plot to assassinate him in New York. Those claims are allegations, and India has denied that its officials were involved.
When the first summons surfaced that month, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called the claims “completely unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations”, ThePrint reported at the time. Gupta, named in the suit, pleaded guilty in February 2026 to charges including murder-for-hire conspiracy, ANI reported. For another recent India diplomacy story, see our report on Zelenskyy’s call with Modi.
What happens next for the Pannun lawsuit
Pannun’s side has until 30 November to file its packet. The court will then review it, and any request to the Indian courts will be routed by the court clerk. India’s stated position is that any service in the country has to pass through the Ministry of Law and Justice, so the Pannun lawsuit now turns on whether that route is followed.
The order only opens a route to serve summonses on two senior officials through Indian courts, so the next test is whether Pannun's 30 November filing is routed through the Law Ministry. India's quick public rejection signals it will contest any attempt at service in the country.