NEW YORK – Blow to India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former RAW intelligence chief Samant Goel as US federal court cleared the way for summons to be served on both officials through Indian courts in connection with an alleged 2023 assassination plot targeting Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
The high-profile assassination conspiracy takes a turn in America, with federal judge allowing legal summons to be served on India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former RAW chief Samant Goel through Indian courts for being involved in US-based Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The November 9, 2026, decision comes amid continued diplomatic friction between Washington and New Delhi over the alleged 2023 murder-for-hire operation, which American investigators say was disrupted before the intended killing could take place. The order does not establish guilt or determine the validity of the allegations, but it opens another legal avenue for pursuing senior Indian officials named in the civil lawsuit.
US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, sitting in the Southern District of New York, authorized Pannun’s legal team to pursue delivery of court documents to Doval and Goel through judicial channels in New Delhi. The legal papers could be routed through courts operating at the Patiala House, Dwarka and Tis Hazari complexes.
The ruling followed unsuccessful attempts to serve the two officials through earlier arrangements, including efforts involving official visits and India’s central authority responsible for receiving international judicial requests. Invoking Article 19 of the Hague Service Convention, the judge allowed an alternative procedure and directed Pannun to submit the proposed service documents by November 30, 2026.
The complaint names the Government of India, Doval, former intelligence chief Goel, Vikash Yadav, Indian national Nikhil Gupta and other alleged participants. The lawsuit seeks financial compensation over the alleged assassination attempt. India has long opposed Pannun’s separatist activities, outlawing Sikhs for Justice and designating him a terrorist under its anti-terrorism legislation.
New Delhi maintains that the movement poses a threat to India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs dismissed the allegations against high-ranking officials as fabricated and malicious. Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal emphasized that legal documents originating from foreign courts must be processed through India’s authorized central authority, the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Indian authorities have also questioned the lawsuit’s legal foundation and raised concerns involving jurisdiction and diplomatic immunity. While denying that the alleged operation reflected official government policy, India previously constituted a high-level committee to examine information provided by American authorities.
Earlier, American diplomatic officials transmitted legal documents concerning Government of India to the Indian Embassy in Washington under procedures associated with the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. A diplomatic note was reportedly signed around September 30, while the documents were delivered on October 9, 2026.
The civil lawsuit is closely connected to a criminal investigation that has already produced a major development. Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national arrested in the Czech Republic in June 2023 and extradited to the United States the following year, pleaded guilty in February 2026 to charges involving murder-for-hire and money laundering conspiracies.
American prosecutors said Gupta arranged a $15,000 advance payment toward a planned $100,000 assassination contract targeting Pannun. However, the person believed to be the hired killer was working with American law enforcement, allowing investigators to disrupt the scheme. Gupta faces a combined statutory maximum of 40 years in prison, with sentencing still pending.
US prosecutors have also linked the operation to Vikash Yadav, whom they identified as an individual formerly associated with India’s intelligence establishment. Investigators allege that Gupta coordinated the murder plot under Yadav’s instructions. Delhi denied that the operation was sanctioned by its government and has stated that the individual identified by American authorities is no longer in government service.
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