US court to hear Congress' challenge to rights violation suit

NEW YORK: A US court will hear on March 19 a motion filed by India's ruling Congress party seeking dismissal of a human rights violation lawsuit against it in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

US District Judge Robert Sweet ordered that the court will hear Congress party's motion to dismiss the pending human rights violation lawsuit brought against it by rights group Sikh For Justice ( SFJ).

Eminent Indian-American Attorney Ravi Batra, who represents the Congress party in the US, had filed the motion in Manhattan federal court on January 17 seeking an order to dismiss the complaint.

Batra had sought the dismissal citing lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

SFJ has time till February 17 to respond to the Congress party's motion and Batra will then have to file his response by March 10.

The group filed the case under the Alien Torts Statute (ATS) and Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) which grants jurisdiction to US Courts to hear human rights violation cases committed outside the country.

Batra has said that SFJ claims that it is pursuing relief on behalf of third-parties for whom they have not established a legal ability to act.

"SFJ's sole claim to representative authority is their unadorned claim to have been 'formed to seek justice and compensation for those Sikhs who were injured or whose family members were killed and whose property was destroyed' during the 1984 riots.

"Nowhere does SFJ even claim to have authority from any person to bring claims on their behalf, nor does it allege having been appointed the 'legal representative' of anyone by a Court of competent jurisdiction," he said.