US court dismisses 1984 riots case against Sonia Gandhi

PTI, New York :An appeals court in New York has affirmed a district judge’s order to dismiss a human rights violation lawsuit filed against Congress president Sonia Gandhi by a Sikh group in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, ruling that the petition lacked merit.The three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that it found the arguments presented by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) in its case against Mrs Gandhi “without merit”.The bench of Circuit Judges Jose Cabranes, Renna Raggi and Richard Wesley affirmed the district court’s order of June 9, 2014 in which the judge had dismissed the human rights violation lawsuit filed by SFJ against Mrs Gandhi.US District Judge Brian Cogan had granted Mrs Gandhi’s motion to dismiss the complaint due to “lack of subject matter jurisdiction” and failure to state a claim.”Upon due consideration…, it is hereby ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the judgement of the District Court is affirmed,” the three-judge bench said in its order issued in New York yesterday.Mrs Gandhi’s lawyer eminent Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra termed the appeals court ruling as “historic” and said the judges have upheld a nation’s sovereignty by declared Mrs Gandhi free of any fault – despite SFJ’s “reprehensible defamatory efforts”.