Kumar Bahukhandi
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal addresses a media briefing in New Delhi. (File photo)
The Ministry of External Affairs called the allegations “fabricated and malicious” and said requests to serve judicial documents in India must go through the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Key Highlights
- A US federal court allowed Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to pursue service of summons on National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former R&AW chief Samant Goel through courts in Delhi.
- India rejected the allegations on Tuesday and said the Ministry of Law and Justice is its designated authority for requests to serve judicial documents.
- The 9 November order concerns how the two defendants may be formally notified of the civil lawsuit. The court has yet to decide the allegations at issue
New Delhi: India rejected allegations against National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former Research and Analysis Wing chief Samant Goel on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, a day after a US federal court allowed Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to pursue service of summons on the two officials through courts in Delhi. Pannun’s civil lawsuit concerns an alleged plot to assassinate him in New York in 2023.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the allegations at a media briefing. “We reject the fabricated and malicious attacks on our high officials,” he said, also describing the litigation as frivolous.
What the New York court allowed
US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York granted Pannun’s request to pursue service through Indian courts. The order set a 30 November deadline. Reporting on the order said Pannun was directed to submit a proposed package that includes copies of the summons, the proposed method of service and records of earlier attempts to deliver the documents under the Hague Convention procedure
Service is the formal delivery of legal papers to notify a defendant of a case. The order addresses that step in relation to Doval and Goel. An earlier attempt involving Doval was unsuccessful. In April 2025, the same court found that the complaint had not been delivered to him during a visit to Washington in February of that year.
India points to its designated authority
Jaiswal said requests to serve judicial documents in India must be routed through the Ministry of Law and Justice. That was New Delhi’s response to the proposed route for notifying the two officials. Separately, the US State Department reportedly transmitted the summons and complaint addressed to the Government of India through diplomatic channels. That transmission concerned the government, while Monday’s order dealt specifically with service on Doval and Goel.
Separate US criminal proceedings
Pannun’s civil lawsuit is separate from the US criminal prosecution arising from the alleged 2023 plot. The US Justice Department announced in February 2026 that Indian national Nikhil Gupta had pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the case. Monday’s order was issued in Pannun’s civil suit and concerns the process for notifying two of its defendants.
