Pannun’s civil lawsuit: U.S. State Department formally serves notice on India

The U.S. State Department, through a diplomatic note, has formally served notice on the Government of India regarding Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Pannun’s civil lawsuit over an alleged assassination plot.

The U.S. State Department said it was legally obliged to do so and is not taking a position on the case, adding, “The documents were delivered to the Embassy of India in Washington under cover of the U.S. Department of State note dated October 20, 2026. The diplomatic note was signed on September 30, 2026, and delivered on October 9, 2026.”

The U.S. State Department’s diplomatic note said “I, John Ballard Managing Director of the Directorate of Overseas Citizens Services, in Washington certify that this is a true copy of the United States Department of State diplomatic note signed on September 30, 2026 and delivered to the Embassy of the Republic of India in Washington DC on October 9, 2026.”

On February 16, 2026, Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta had pled “guilty” at a court in New York to charges of murder, conspiracy, and money laundering to assassinate Khalistani activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The government is yet to comment on the case.

According to investigators in the United States, Mr. Gupta, an Indian businessman, worked with an Indian “government employee” Vikash Yadav, believed to have been associated with India’s external intelligence agency R&AW, to hire a hitman to carry out Mr. Pannun’s murder for a total sum of $100,000. Mr. Yadav, who was arrested in December 2023 in Delhi in a separate case of kidnapping and extortion, has been out on bail since April 2024.

The MEA, responding to Pannun serving Doval, said, “We reject the fabricated and malicious attacks on our high officials, as also we reject the frivolous lawsuits. Request for serving of judicial documents in India can only be routed through India’s designated central authority, that is the Ministry of Law and Justice.”