File picture of Congress President Sonia Gandhi
A federal court in New York has issued summons to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for allegedly shielding and protecting the leaders of her party who are accused of being involved in the anti-Sikh riots in India in 1984.
The court had been petitioned by a rights group named Sikhs For Justice.
Mrs Gandhi is currently in the US for a medical check-up. Under US laws, the summons has to be personally served to initiate legal proceedings.
"Summons issued almost 30 years after the event when the Congress president is on a medical visit is, to put it mildly, astonishing. Undoubtedly, appropriate legal action will be taken," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
In the past, the same rights group, Sikhs for Justice, has tried unsuccessfully to have Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and Union Minister Kamal Nath summoned to American courts.
Hundreds of Sikhs were killed in riots that began after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.