US court has asked India’s Congress party President Sonia Gandhi to provide a copy of her passport by April 7 to show that she was not in the US between September 2 and September 9 in the year 2013.
Sonia Gandhi
Mrs.Gandhi had filed a motion in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, seeking dismissal of a human rights violation case against her relating to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, asserting she had not been served the summons as she was not in the US during that time.
However, on Thursday, Judge Brian M. Cogan of Brooklyn Court asked her to “provide a copy of her passport, showing her most recent entry and exit stamps into and out of the United States.” the court mentioned that the Sonia Gandhi’s January 10 declaration is insufficient to prove her absence in US.
The order states that “This would appear to obviate both the need for any documents from the hospital-resolving defendant’s medical privacy concerns – and the need to rely upon a third party government agency like Customs and Border Protection”.
“Whatever form this evidence takes, defendant must provide it by April 7, 2014” Judge Brian M. Cogan ordered.
The 1984 human rights violation case against Gandhi hinges on the issue whether she was not present in the US during that time as per her claim or she was served on Sep 9 as claimed by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ)
In March 20th order the Judge Cogan said “the court cannot find that a sufficient showing of non-presence has been made based on the affirmation without plaintiffs having received some discovery to confirm it, The defendant must provide some documentary evidence to corroborate her otherwise unsupported declaration stating that she was not in the United States at the time of service”, he said.
Moreover, SFJ claims that, on Sep 9, they had served the summons and complaint on the hospital and security staff at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York where Sonia Gandhi was believed to be undergoing medical treatment.
In Sep 2013, the Brooklyn court had issued summons against Gandhi on the complaint filed by SFJ and some victims of anti-Sikh violence in India in November 1984.
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