Gurpatwant Pannun, a pro-Khalistani leader, has filed a lawsuit against the Indian government and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval over an alleged foiled assassination plot.

Sept. 19, 2024, 6:25 a.m.

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Canadian pro-Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has filed a lawsuit against the Indian government. According to Canadian news outlet CBC News, the civil lawsuit was filed in a US federal district court against the Indian government, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and others, seeking compensation for an alleged assassination attempt against him that was foiled by the US in 2023.

The lawsuit also alleged India’s involvement in the death of pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. It is pertinent to note that the allegations hurled by the general counsel for the pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice, have not been proven in court and the Indian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request from CBC News.

Advertisement Last November, the US announced the indictment of Indian national Nikhil Gupta for an alleged murder-for-hire plot against Pannun in New York, which was ultimately thwarted.

What the lawsuit states

In the latest lawsuit, Pannun alleged that the gunmen involved in the Nijjar assassination, shot the pro-Khalistani terrorist 34 times “at point blank range before fleeing,” and a video of Nijjar’s “bloody body” was sent to Gupta “as a message to move forward” with the murder plot against Pannun, CBC News reported.

“They were successful in killing Nijjar,” Pannun’s lawyer Matthew Borden told the Canadian news outlet. “And the same thing would have happened to Pannun but for the fact that the person that Gupta tried to hire was an undercover US agent,” the lawyer furthered.

The courtroom document also alleged that Gupta instructed the undercover agents to “put everyone down” if Pannun was not alone at the time of the planned attack. It is important to note that Gupta has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Nijjar was fatally shot outside a Sikh gurdwara where he served as president on June 18, 2023. Following this, four Indian citizens have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with the killing. The assassination sparked a significant diplomatic dispute between India and Canada.

Advertisement Things escalated after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament in 2023 that credible intelligence linked the murder to India’s government. India denied any sort of involvement in both the Nijjar and Pannun cases and called the Canadian premier’s accusations “absurd”. New Delhi also set up its own high-level inquiry into the Pannun case after being notified by the US authorities about the assassination plot.

Notably, the lawsuit emerged at a time when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit the United States for the Quad Summit. Pannun stated that the lawsuit aims to send a message to pro-Khalistani groups abroad.

Advertisement “This is about the rule of law, in which no individual and no government — including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government — is above the law,” he averred. “Holding Modi’s government … accountable before the US court will establish the principle of rule of law,” he added.

With inputs from agencies.