• Source:JND
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Hours after the United States District Court summoned the Indian government in link with a civil lawsuit filed by pro-Khalistan activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that Pannun has been declared as such under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967. He further added that the registration of the case, it doesn't 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," said Vikram Misri.

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"I would also underline the fact that the organization so-called that this person represents is an unlawful organization, 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," he added.

This comes after a complaint filed by Pannun against the Government of India, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, former R&AW chief Samant Goel, R&AW agent Vikram Yadav, and Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta. In his complaint, he accused them of orchestrating two assassination attempts on his life, according to a report by the Times of India.

Pannun is an India-designated terrorist who holds American and Canadian citizenship.

The US Justice Department unveiled an indictment against an Indian national earlier in November, alleging that he was involved in a failed attempt to kill a New York resident and the US-based leader of the Sikh Separatist Movement.

The Justice Department claimed that an Indian government employee (named CC-1), who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination, which was foiled by US authorities, according to prosecutors.

According to the Justice Department, the charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

(With agency inputs)