A US-based SIkh rights group has sued the Congress and Sonia Gandhi over the 1984 riots
New York:
A US court has dismissed a case against the Congress in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying the event is "entirely on foreign soil" and does not concern America.
The case had been filed by a rights group, "Sikhs for Justice" (SFJ), which blamed the Congress for the mob killings of Sikhs after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in November, 1984, by her Sikh bodyguards.
The group says it will challenge the dismissal.
It has accused the Congress of conspiring, aiding, abetting and carrying out the attacks on Sikhs.
"The case is dismissed for the lack of subject matter," federal judge Robert Sweets said on Monday, barring the Sikh group from filing a fresh complaint with amendments.
The court said the group lacked the legal standing to sue the Congress on American soil as it is US-based, and only outsiders can file such a case.
The Congress had challenged the jurisdiction of an American court to decide on a lawsuit linked to the three-decade-old incident.
The Sikh group, however, said it would pursue the case on the grounds that it sufficiently "touches and concerns" the US and SFJ has "institutional standing" to seek "declaratory judgment" on November 1984 violence against the Sikh community.
The group has also filed a case against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, saying she shielded her party men accused of leading mobs against Sikhs.
Mrs Gandhi has reportedly refused to hand over a copy of her passport to the US Court, saying the Indian government will not allow it. The court had asked her in March to give a copy of her passport after she denied receiving any federal summons in New York in September last year. The passport was to prove that she was not in the US at the time.
The case had been filed by a rights group, "Sikhs for Justice" (SFJ), which blamed the Congress for the mob killings of Sikhs after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in November, 1984, by her Sikh bodyguards.
The group says it will challenge the dismissal.
It has accused the Congress of conspiring, aiding, abetting and carrying out the attacks on Sikhs.
"The case is dismissed for the lack of subject matter," federal judge Robert Sweets said on Monday, barring the Sikh group from filing a fresh complaint with amendments.
The court said the group lacked the legal standing to sue the Congress on American soil as it is US-based, and only outsiders can file such a case.
The Congress had challenged the jurisdiction of an American court to decide on a lawsuit linked to the three-decade-old incident.
The Sikh group, however, said it would pursue the case on the grounds that it sufficiently "touches and concerns" the US and SFJ has "institutional standing" to seek "declaratory judgment" on November 1984 violence against the Sikh community.
The group has also filed a case against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, saying she shielded her party men accused of leading mobs against Sikhs.
Mrs Gandhi has reportedly refused to hand over a copy of her passport to the US Court, saying the Indian government will not allow it. The court had asked her in March to give a copy of her passport after she denied receiving any federal summons in New York in September last year. The passport was to prove that she was not in the US at the time.
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