US court allows summons to be served on Doval and former intelligence chief in Pannun murder-plot case
There has been new progress in the civil case filed against India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the country's former intelligence chief Samant Goel. A court in New York in the United States has allowed Khalistan supporter Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to send the case documents to the two officials through the Indian courts.
US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla gave the order on Monday. The necessary documents for sending the summons must be filed in court by November 30. Indian media outlets The Tribune and The Wire published the news on Tuesday.
In the case filed in September 2024, Pannun alleged that a plan was made through Indian intelligence officials to kill him on US soil. Doval, former RAW chief Goel, former intelligence officer Vikash Yadav, the Government of India and Nikhil Gupta have been made defendants in the case. He has also claimed compensation in the matter. However, the truth of these allegations has not been proved in court.
Earlier, in February 2025, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States, an attempt to deliver the case documents to Doval failed. Later, the US State Department sent the case documents to the Indian embassy in Washington through diplomatic channels. Now the way has opened to deliver the documents to Doval and Goel through the Indian courts.
In separate criminal proceedings linked to the case, accused Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in February 2026 to several charges, including conspiracy to hire a hitman for murder. However, his admission does not prove the allegations in the civil case against Doval, Goel or the Government of India.
The Indian government has been rejecting Pannun's allegations. The latest court order is mainly about the process of serving the summons; it gives no decision on the truth of the allegations.
