U.S. Court Issues Summons To Modi In 2002 Gujarat Riots Case

NEW YORK: Hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in the United States, a court has issued summons against him, a copy of which is with Rediff.com, for his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots case when he was the chief minister of the state.

The summons against Modi were issued by the U.S. Federal Court for the Southern District of New York following a lawsuit filed by the New York-based American Justice Center, a non-profit human rights organisation, along with two survivors of the violence.

Modi is scheduled to arrive in New York on his maiden U.S. visit as prime minister after a nine-year visa ban.

The lawsuit against Modi has been filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act.

Seeking compensatory and punitive damages, the 28-page complaint charges Modi with committing crimes against humanity, extra-judicial killings, torture and inflicting mental and physical trauma on the victims, mostly from the Muslim community.

"The Tort Case against Prime Minister Modi is an unequivocal message to human rights abusers everywhere," said John Bradley, director at the AJC. "Time and place and the trappings of power will not be an impediment to justice," he said.

The Alien Tort Claims Act, also known as Alien Tort Statute, is a U.S. federal law first adopted in 1789 that gives the federal courts jurisdiction to hear lawsuits filed by U.S. residents for acts committed in violation of international law outside the U.S..

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