NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for his five-day visit to the US and even before he landed in the country, a US court has issued summons against him for his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
A report in The Hindu said that the lawsuit was filed by a non-profit human rights organisation called American Justice Centre (AJC), which also identified two survivors of the horrific and organised violence of Gujarat 2002 as the plaintiffs.
AJC has asked for a response from Modi based on the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) and has warned that judgement by default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint, if Modi fails to respond.
The report adds that the twenty-eight page complaint “charges PM Modi with committing crimes against humanity, extra-judicial killings, torture and inflicting mental and physical trauma on the victims, mostly from the Muslim community.
Modi left for the US on 25 September. After addressing the UN General Assembly on 27 September, and some 18,000 Indian-American community at the Madison Square Garden in New York on 28 September, Modi is scheduled to head to Washington for his maiden meeting with US President Barack Obama on 29 and 30 September at the White House.
AJC said it is providing legal support and advice to the survivors in their effort to hold “Modi accountable for his complicity in the violence.”
The survivors are suing Modi for the loss of lives and trauma in their families, and caused emotional, financial and psychological devastation in their lives.
“The Tort Case against Prime Minister Modi is an unequivocal message to human rights abusers everywhere,” said John Bradley, an AJC director.
“Time and place and the trappings of power will not be an impediment to justice.”
The Alien Tort Claims Act, also known as Alien Tort Statute (ATS), is a US federal law first adopted in 1789 that gives the federal courts jurisdiction to hear lawsuits filed by US residents for acts committed in violation of international law outside the US, AJC said. (With inputs from Agencies)
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