It is not every day that a terrorist files a case against a law keeper seeking damages for the attempt on his life. But that's precisely what happened right ahead of PM Modi's upcoming visit to the United States.
`Khalistan terrorist' Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has filed for damages in a New York court against the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The court has sent summons to Doval, former R&AW chief Samant Goel who got two extensions for his good work abroad, ‘R&AW agent' Vikram Yadav and 'Indian businessman' Nikhil Gupta who was extradited to the US from Czechoslovakia earlier this year in connection with a similar case.
The case has been filed in the United States district court in the same southern district of New York, where proceedings are afoot in a criminal case against Nikhil Gupta, with ‘murder for hire' charges; by an uncanny coincidence, the same cast of characters are involved in the Gupta case, allegations that have complicated relations among Washington, Ottawa and New Delhi
The development has serious implications because the interests driving both the cases are focussed, convergent, and pose a considerable nuisance value to New Delhi, especially as it brings matters almost to the doorsteps of the Prime Minister whose work with the NSA is intertwined and inextricable.
Addressing the media, Panun and his lawyers, Matthew Borden, and Richard Rogers, claimed that the New York Court had jurisdiction over the claims against Doval, Goel, Yadav, and Gupta.
The lawsuit also says “Mr. Pannun at this time has not named Narendra Modi as a defendant due to the immunity he now enjoys under US and international law as head of a foreign sovereign government. However, Mr. Pannun reserves his right to amend the complaint to include Narendra Modi as a defendant should his status as head of state change during the course of these proceedings.”
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