US Court Rules NSA Ajit Doval Not Legally Served: Pannun’s Claims Dismissed:

A court in the US has stated that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval was not properly served a legal summons while in Washington, D.C. this past February, denying the arguments given by pro-Khalistan separatist attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. In the case of Pannun’s attempt to serve Doval at the Blair House, the official guest residence of foreign dignitaries, Doval was never serviced as the letter from his legal team detailed numerous attempts that went unanswered.

Pannun’s process server was stopped by US Secret Service agents who were stationed at the location from attempting to leave the documents at the location and were even threatened with arrest, which prompted one process server to leave the summons at a Starbucks located close to the Blair House. This was deemed insufficient by the court.

In the words of the judge, “the complaint was not delivered to a member of the hotel management or staff or any officers or agents providing security for the defendant, as required by the court’s order.” As it happens, this does fit with India’s position that was previously outlined by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri who dismissed the summons as “unsubstantiated” and devoid of any legal standing which now follows the information that Doval was disengaged from international law.

The matter arises from a civil suit that Pannun filed in September 2023, alleging that Indian authorities are said to have attempted to conspire to kill him. Earlier, Nikhil Gupta, an Indian citizen, was charged by American prosecutors for allegedly trying to engage a hired assassin to kill Pannun at the behest of an unidentified Indian intelligence agent. This was accompnaied by another charge that was unsealed in October of that year, which identified the purported architect of the scheme to be Vikash Yadav, a former officer of the Research and Analysis Wing.

With the escalation, New Delhi initiated a domestic inquiry into the allegations which resulted in a recommendation for prosecution of Yadav by January 2024.

Pannun was given a terror label by India in 2020 and is the spokesperson of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), pro-Khalistani outfit which India has lobbied for a ban in the US.