A Special NIA Court in the Indian capital, New Delhi, has directed the National Investigation Agency to begin proceedings to withdraw a Look Out Circular issued against Australian citizen Prabhjot Narang in connection with the alleged death threat to an Indian diplomat posted in London.
The matter relates to the March 2023 Khalistan protests outside the Indian High Commission in London, where pro-Khalistan demonstrators gathered on March 19 and 22. Indian authorities later opened an investigation into the incident, including alleged threats made to High Commission officials.
According to court proceedings, it was alleged that a threatening call was made from a mobile number linked to Prabhjot Narang to a senior Indian diplomat in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2023.
The NIA registered the case on April 13, 2023, and an LOC was issued against Narang on October 20, 2023.
Special Judge Pitambar Dutt directed the agency to initiate withdrawal of the LOC after Narang’s lawyers gave an undertaking that he would cooperate with the investigation. The court ordered that the process be completed within a week and listed the matter for a compliance report on July 14.
Narang, who lives in Australia, had approached the court through advocates Utkarsh Singh and Svayamprabh Mishra seeking revocation of the LOC. His legal team told the court he wished to travel to India to meet family members but feared detention at the airport because of the circular.
The court was told Narang would inform the NIA about his travel to India and cooperate with the investigation.
Special Public Prosecutor Shilpa Singh, appearing for the NIA, submitted that the agency would initiate proceedings for the withdrawal of the LOC and inform Narang’s counsel.
Narang’s plea argued that he was a foreign national and had not been named as an accused in the NIA case. It also submitted that continuation of the LOC against a person who was neither named in the charge sheet nor formally accused would be arbitrary and violative of his rights.
The NIA has already filed a charge sheet in the broader London High Commission case, but Narang has not been named in it.
The agency’s reply before the court said an NIA team had visited London between May 24 and May 31, 2023, inspected the scene, examined eyewitnesses and seized CCTV footage from cameras installed inside the Indian High Commission premises.
During the inquiry, a then First Secretary at the High Commission reportedly told investigators that two protests took place outside the mission on March 19 and 22, 2023, after which false propaganda against High Commission officials was circulated on social media.
He also stated that on March 23, 2023, at about 11.08 am, he received a call on his landline from the mobile number under investigation and was threatened with death. The London Metropolitan Police was informed, and a security advisory was later issued after a threat assessment.
The NIA said its investigation found the number used for the alleged threat call was an Australian number and belonged to Narang. It also said the number was frequently in contact with Harvinder Singh and Harpreet Singh, who are also Australian nationals.
Narang’s application stated that his brother-in-law, Harpreet Singh, had earlier been stopped at an Indian airport on September 25, 2023, in connection with the same case. It said details sought by the investigating agency about Narang were later provided through him.
The case forms part of India’s wider investigation into the 2023 violence and protests at the Indian High Commission in London.
The NIA had earlier released CCTV footage and images of persons it said were linked to the March 19 incident, seeking public assistance to identify them. Indian authorities have treated the London incident as a serious attack on a diplomatic mission and have pursued suspects and alleged supporters in India and overseas.
In September 2024, the NIA filed its first charge sheet in the case against UK national Inderpal Singh Gaba, alleging his role in the March 22 protest outside the High Commission. The agency alleged that the protest formed part of a Khalistani secessionist agenda.
For Narang, the latest court order does not amount to a clean chit or closure of the investigation. However, it gives him immediate relief by directing the agency to begin the process of withdrawing the LOC that had prevented him from travelling to India without fear of being stopped.
The matter will return to court on July 14, when the NIA is expected to file its compliance report.
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