After Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun initiated a lawsuit against India over ‘assassination’ attempt, India on Thursday dismissed the charges as “completely unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations”.
Addressing a press briefing on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “As we’ve said earlier, these are completely unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations. Now that this particular case has been lodged. It doesn’t change our views about the underlying situation.”
Referring to Pannun, Misri said that the antecedents of the person behind this particular case are well known and the organisation this person represents is unlawful.
“I would only invite your attention to the person behind this particular case whose antecedents are well known. I would also underline the fact that the organisation so-called that this person represents is an unlawful organisation, has been declared as such under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967 and it has been done so on account of its involvement in anti-national and subversive activities aimed at disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India…,” added the foreign secretary.
Pannun, the general counsel for pro-Khalistani group Sikhs for Justice, has filed a civil lawsuit in a US federal district court against the Government of India seeking damages for an alleged assassination plot that took place on US soil last year.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday also lists National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, former R&AW chief Samant Goel, senior R&AW officer Vikram Yadav, and Nikhil Gupta as defendants in the Civil action suit.
According to a Wion report, citing a post by Pannun on X, a summon has been sent to the Indian Consulate General in New York, giving the Indian government and other defendants 21 days to respond to the complaint.
Reports indicate that India has yet to reply to the summons.
The lawsuit seeks to hold the Indian government accountable for its alleged involvement in assassination plots against Pannun, a dual citizen of the US and Canada of Indian descent who reportedly survived a murder attempt in June 2023.
Previously, the US expressed concerns about an Indian official’s involvement in the plot, issuing a “diplomatic warning” last December. The official is said to have collaborated with Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, to arrange a $15,000 upfront payment to a hitman to carry out the assassination.
With inputs from agencies
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‘Unwarranted, unsubstantiated imputations’: India on Pannun’s lawsuit over ’assassination’ plot
