MEA slams Pannun over US lawsuit against Indian govt: 'The organisation this person represents ...'

Pannun, a US-Canadian dual citizen of Indian origin, has been designated as a terrorist by India.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Thursday dismissed a civil lawsuit filed by Khalistani extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun against the Indian government and national security adviser Ajit Doval as "completely unwarranted and unsubstantiated".

During a weekly media briefing, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said that the lawsuit will not change India's views about the underlying situation.

"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. I would only invite your attention to the person behind this particular case whose antecedents are well known," he said.

Misri also pointed out that Sikhs for Justice, the organization represented by Pannun, is an unlawful entity which has been declared as such under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967.

" ...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," he said.

Pannun, the general counsel of the pro-Khalistan outfit, has filed a civil lawsuit in a US federal district court against the Modi government as well as NSA Doval.

He has sought damages for the alleged attempt on his life in US last year.

The US court has summoned the Indian government following the lawsuit.

The lawsuit has also named former R&AW chief Samant Goel, senior R&AW officer Vikram Yadav, and Nikhil Gupta. Gupta, an Indian national, is in a New York jail on murder-for-hire charges.

Pannun is seeking financial compensation for the assault and inflicting extreme emotional distress. He claims his life is still under threat. The lawsuit alleges that Yadav was recruited by R&AW Gupta to arrange a murder attempt on Pannun and it was approved by Goel and Doval. The plot was reportedly stopped because the hitmen were undercover US agents.

Pannun, a US-Canadian dual citizen of Indian origin, has been designated as a terrorist by India.