Sikh rights group to subpoena Rahul Gandhi before US Court

NEW YORK: A Sikh rights group that has filed human rights violation cases against the Congress party and its leader Sonia Gandhi said it will subpoena the party's vice president Rahul Gandhi before a US court in the 1984 anti-Sikh rights lawsuit, a demand that has been strongly rejected by the political party's attorney here.

Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) said it decided to subpoena Gandhi after he said in a televised interview that "some Congress men were probably involved in 1984 anti-Sikh riots and they have been punished for it."

The group said it will subpoena Gandhi "as a witness before New York federal court in the pending 1984 Sikh rights violation lawsuit."

Reacting to SFJ's demand, eminent Indian-American Ravi Batra told PTI that any requests for subpoena issued on Gandhi will be responded to with a motion to dismiss.

Batra, who represents the Congress party in US courts, also strongly objected to SFJ's demand saying the group should not build "visitor-suites in their sand castles.

"Staying out of the internal politics of India, but dealing only with the legal issues raised by SFJ's perpetual desire to raise false public expectations - any subpoena issued by SFJ on Rahul Gandhi will be met with a motion to quash," Batra said.