Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has filed a civil lawsuit against the Government of India and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, with a US court issuing summons in the case.
Describing as completely "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" imputations the lawsuit filed by Pannun, who heads the radical group Sikhs for Justice, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday said that this development needs to be seen and understood within the true context.
"As we have said earlier, these are absolutely unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations. Now that this particular case has been lodged, it does not alter our views regarding the underlying situation. I would only invite your attention to the person behind this particular case whose antecedents are well known," Misri told the media.
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York summons accompanying the civil action lawsuit state a response to the summons must be given within 21 days.
This comes just days before PM Narendra Modi is to visit the US from September 21-23 during which he will address the Quad Leaders' Summit and speak at the UN's Summit of the Future.
The Government of India and Doval and Nikhil Gupta, who has been charged by federal prosecutors in an indictment unsealed in November last year with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun, who holds dual US and Canadian citizenships, on American soil.
Gupta was extradited from the Czech Republic to the US in June. He appeared for the first time in Manhattan federal court before Magistrate Judge James Cott. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The lawsuit was filed on September 17 accusing the Modi government of paying Gupta for arranging an assassin who murdered his victim in New York.
The 28-page complaint also references the assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. It alleges those efforts were overseen by Vikram Yadav, who is listed in the complaint and has been described as a Senior Intelligence Officer in India's Research and Analysis Wing. They were sanctioned by the head of R&AW Samant and Doval, both of whom are listed in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit said: "The US captured and indicted Gupta. But the Government of India denies responsibility," adding that Pannun brings this action to hold the Government of India, Doval, Goel, Yadav, and Gupta, "accountable for their unprecedented attempt to assassinate a US citizen on US soil.".
Those persons named in the complaint should be required to compensate Pannun for the harm they caused and are continuing to cause him and explain their role in the assassination plot, " it said.
Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada.
"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," Misri said at a press conference responding to a question on the lawsuit.
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