New Delhi: A US federal court has allowed Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to pursue a new legal route to serve his civil lawsuit on India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Goel through courts in Delhi. The November 9, 2026, order marks an important development in the case involving allegations of a conspiracy to assassinate Pannun in the United States.
However, the court’s decision is about delivering legal documents. It does not prove the allegations or establish the involvement of any Indian official.
Gurpatwant Pannun Lawsuit Case: US Court Allows Legal Summons Through Delhi Courts
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York approved Pannun’s request to serve legal documents on Ajit Doval and Samant Goel through Indian courts.
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US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued the order on November 9, 2026. The judge accepted Pannun’s argument that Article 19 of the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents allows legal documents to be served through procedures available under the domestic laws of another country.
This means the legal papers can be sent through the Indian judicial system instead of depending only on the earlier methods of delivering them.
Gurpatwant Pannun Lawsuit: November 30 Deadline For Submitting Legal Documents
The US court has directed Pannun to submit a proposed service packet by November 30, 2026.
The packet must include copies of the summons for Doval and Goel, a proposed order explaining the method of service, relevant Indian legal provisions and records of earlier unsuccessful attempts to serve the documents.
After receiving and examining these materials, the US court will decide on the next steps.
If the documents are approved, the Clerk of Court will transmit them to the identified Indian courts for further action. Therefore, the latest order does not mean that the summons have already been delivered to the two officials.
Why The US Court Referred To Indian Law
An important part of the ruling involves India’s Code of Civil Procedure (CPC). The court referred to Section 29(c) of the CPC, which allows summons issued by certain foreign civil courts to be transmitted to Indian courts and served as if they were issued by those courts.
The court also referred to a January 2009 notification issued by the Indian government. It extended the relevant provision to civil courts in countries that are parties to the Hague Convention.
Another provision, Order V Rule 21 of the CPC, deals with the transmission of summons between courts having jurisdiction over the places where defendants reside. Based on these legal provisions, the US court accepted the proposed route for serving the documents on Doval and Goel.
Gurpatwant Pannun Lawsuit: Earlier Attempts To Serve Ajit Doval And Samant Goel
Before approaching the court with this alternative method, Pannun’s legal team had made several attempts to deliver the lawsuit documents.
According to the court proceedings, Pannun claimed that he tried three times to serve Ajit Doval during his visits to the United States. However, security personnel prevented the process servers from completing the delivery.
His legal team also attempted to serve Doval, Goel and former RAW officer Vikash Yadav through India’s Central Authority at the Ministry of Law and Justice. Those attempts were unsuccessful.
Earlier, on April 1, 2026, the US court had also rejected other proposed methods, including service through email to India’s Attorney General, delivery through Yadav’s lawyers in an unrelated criminal case and service by publication.
The US State Department also said that diplomatic service under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act was not available for serving the two individual officials through that route. However, the department took no position on the separate proposal to serve them through Indian courts.
What Is The Gurpatwant Pannun Lawsuit Case
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel of the organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), filed a civil lawsuit in 2024 before a US court.
The lawsuit names the Government of India, Ajit Doval, former RAW chief Samant Goel, Vikram Yadav, Nikhil Gupta and several unnamed defendants.
Pannun has alleged that the defendants were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate him in the United States because of his activities in the Khalistan movement.
These are allegations made in a civil lawsuit and have not been established by the November 9 court order.
The case is connected to a wider investigation by US authorities into an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting Pannun in New York in 2023.
US prosecutors have separately pursued criminal proceedings against Nikhil Gupta and former Indian government employee Vikash Yadav in connection with the alleged plot.
Gupta pleaded guilty in the US criminal case in February 2026. These criminal proceedings are separate from Pannun’s civil lawsuit against the Indian government and the other named defendants.
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FAQs
The US court has directed Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to submit a proposed service packet by November 30, 2026. The documents will be examined before the court clerk transmits them to the identified Indian courts.
The US court accepted Pannun’s argument that Article 19 of the Hague Convention allows foreign legal documents to be served through procedures permitted under Indian law. This provides an alternative way to deliver the lawsuit documents to Ajit Doval and Samant Goel.
No. The November 9, 2026, order only allows a legal procedure for serving the lawsuit documents. It does not establish guilt or prove the allegations against Ajit Doval or Samant Goel.
