U.S. court allows suits on NSA Doval, RAW ex-chief

11 NOVEMBER 2026

A U.S. court allowed Khalistani separatist and lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to serve his civil plea on National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Goel through Indian judicial channels, after the State Department submitted that it had served the notice on the two officials at the Indian Embassy in Washington.
The External Affairs Ministry rejected the move, calling the lawsuit “frivolous” and saying such judicial documents must be sent to the Law and Justice Ministry in India..
The lawsuit filed by Mr. Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, is separate but linked to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s findings of alleged Indian links to an assassination plot against him in June 2023.

Assassination plot

An undercover Drug Enforcement Agency informant had pointed the FBI investigation into the lawyer’s assassination plot to Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta, and to conversations with senior Indian intelligence officials, including Vikash Yadav, regarding a conspiracy to hire a hitman to kill Mr. Pannun in New York.
Mr. Gupta pleaded guilty to the charges, and the U.S. courts have scheduled the sentencing for November 20.
Mr. Yadav was arrested in Delhi in December 2023 on separate charges by Indian authorities and was given bail in April 2024.
The FBI and Canadian officials, who are investigating a similar case involving the killing of separatist Harjeet Singh Nijjar in Vancouver in June 2023, appear to have dropped earlier claims of the involvement of more senior officials, including Mr. Doval, Mr. Goel, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.