March 22, 2014
JALANDHAR: A US court on Thursday asked Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to provide a copy of her passport by April 7 to establish she was not in the US from September 2 to September 9, 2013 as she had claimed in a declaration before it in a rights violation case.
March 22, 2014
JALANDHAR: A US court on Thursday asked Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to provide a copy of her passport by April 7 to establish she was not in the US from September 2 to September 9, 2013 as she had claimed in a declaration before it in a rights violation case.
A case was filed when Sonia Gandhi was reportedly in the US and the Sikhs for Justice had claimed the summons was served on her through the staff of a New York hospital, where the Congress chief was believed to be undergoing treatment.
US-based NGO Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) had filed the case against Sonia for allegedly protecting the perpetrators of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The court held her declaration of January 10 saying she was not in US was not sufficient to prove her absence during the corresponding period. The Brooklyn Federal Court ruled she must provide some documentary evidence to corroborate her declaration.
Judge Brian M Cogan's order asked Sonia to "provide a copy of her passport, showing her most recent entry and exit stamps into and out of the United States, thus demonstrating she was not in the country" during the period.
The case hinges on the issue whether Sonia was served summons on Septembers 9 as per SFJ's claims. She had claimed she was not served the summons as she was not in the country.
The case was filed when Sonia was reportedly in the US and the SFJ had claimed the summons was served on her through the staff of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where the Congress chief was believed to be undergoing treatment.
Sonia submitted the declaration on January 10 asking the court to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction as she was never personally served the summons.
Courtesy: TNN
