Sonia Gandhi Seeks Dismissal Of Lawsuit In 1984 Massacre Of Sikhs Case

NEW YORK – Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi had decidedmove a US court in NewYork seeking dismissal of a humanrights violation lawsuit filedagainst her by a Sikh advocacygroup and will urge the courtto prevent it from filing furthercases on the 1984 massacre ofSikhs case in the American judicialsystem.Gandhi’s attorney Ravi Batra,who also represents theCongress party in the US courts,filed an 85-page memorandumon Thursday in the district courtEastern District of New York insupport of Gandhi’s motion fordismissal of the amended complaintfiled against her by Sikhsfor Justice (SFJ).In the memorandum, Batrasaid that Gandhi “shall move beforethe Honorable Brian Coganat the United States district courtfor the Eastern District of NewYork” on February 7, 2014, foran order seeking dismissal of theSFJ lawsuit.The dismissal will besought since there is lack ofpersonal jurisdiction uponGandhi, insufficient serviceof process and failure to statea claim upon which relief canbe granted.The motion also urgesthe court to enjoin SFJ from“filing any lawsuit or otherwisepursuing these claims orany other claims stemmingfrom or related to allegationsof conduct in India in 1984,post-assassination of PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi by hersecurity personnel, without firsthaving secured the express writtenconsent of the Court.” He has submitted in court a letterwritten to him on an All India CongressCommittee letterhead and signed by Gandhi.In the letter, Gandhi states that contraryto claims made by SFJ, she was not inNew York in September last year and wasnot served summons in the case.SFJ has said that it had served summonsand the complaint on the Sloan-Kettering Memorial Hospital and its securitystaff when Gandhi was allegedlyundergoing medical treatment there inSeptember.“I was not in New York during therelevant period, namely, from September2, 2013 to September 9, 2013. I was notserved the Summons and Complaint onSeptember 9, 2013, as claimed, or on anyother date,” Gandhi said in the letter.The US Court has given SFJ time tillJanuary 23 to respond to the motion filedby Gandhi.Batra argues that in filing the lawsuitsagainst Gandhi and other Congress leaders,SFJ is engaged in a concerted effort to“abuse their access to the federal courtsfor what amounts to nothing more thanreceiving publicity.”He said SFJ has repeatedly accessedthe courts with their lawsuits “notwithstandingthey are not entitled to it andthey have no standing.”“Given that there is not a single nonconclusoryallegation against Gandhithroughout the First Amended Complaint,beyond lack of personal and subjectmatter jurisdiction, there is also noclaim stated,” Batra said.He said that SFJ “blindly relied” on“multi-fold hearsay media reports” whichhad said that Gandhi was in New York inSeptember and undergoing medical treatmentat Sloan-Kettering.SFJ’s lawsuit alleges that Gandhi protectedand shielded perpetrators of the1984 massacre of Sikh in Delhi.