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.”
Besides the endless embarrassment the publicity surrounding this case is likely to cause, it will have the government of India grappling with the legal conundrums arising from the case, when time for deposition comes. NSA and his cohorts will have to respond in 60 days. The case is not so much about the damages being sought but about the Government of India being put in the dock. It is likely to be a long-drawn-out media circus, where Pannun will get to play extensively to his worldwide separatist gallery.
The newly minted foreign secretary Vikram Misri was forced to address the issue on Thursday, when he was briefing media about the Prime Minister's US visit. He sought to dismiss it as being “completely unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations.” Misri claimed that the case “doesn’t change our views about the underlying situation...the organization so-called that this person represents is an unlawful organization... 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.”
The Foreign Secretary brought up as a shield the “high level inquiry” that the government announced last November. He claimed, “ We have taken certain action and these issues, including the allegations, are being enquired into by high-level committee and the relevant agencies on both sides have engaged on this.”
The fact remains that case is in the court, despite the inquiry committee's mysterious remit and secret work and the engagement. It leads to the conclusion that nothing that the Government of India has done so far has made this reality disappear. It remains unclear if Pannun was put up to it or whether he filed it on his own accord. If anything the Pannun case has shrunk our intelligence footprint in the West almost to non-existence, with our agents getting turfed out of key western countries which align with the United States on this issue.
