Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not have to face a US lawsuit claiming he failed to stop anti-Muslim rioting in 2002, a federal judge in New York ruled on Wednesday.
US District Judge Analisa Torres upheld the US Department of State’s determination that Modi, as a sitting head of government, is entitled to immunity from civil lawsuits filed in US courts.
The lawsuit, filed in September last year by an obscure human rights group on the eve of Modi’s maiden visit to the US, made international headlines at the time, though officials from both nations brushed it off as a distraction.
Joseph Whittington, president of human rights group American Justice Center and a city councilor in Harvey, Illinois, acknowledged in September last year that the case had little chance of succeeding, but said there was victory in “symbolism.”
Babak Pourtavoosi, a lawyer who represented the center, and Whittington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit was a frivolous attempt to discredit Modi during his visit to the US, said G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, a spokesman for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
“It deserved to be treated with contempt,” he added.
The judge’s decision comes ahead of a planned visit by US President Barack Obama to attend India’s Jan. 26 Republic Day celebrations at Modi’s invitation.
The lawsuit claimed Modi, a Hindu nationalist, did nothing to halt riots in his home state of Gujarat in which more than 1,000 people died in reprisals after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire.
As a result of the allegations, Modi was denied a US visa in 2005, but Obama was quick to invite him to the US after Modi’s election as prime minister.
Last year’s visit was intended to revitalize the two nations’ relationship, which was severely strained in 2013 when US authorities in New York arrested an Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, for underpaying a domestic worker and subjected her to a strip search.
The US Department of State later granted her immunity and essentially had her expelled in a series of diplomatic maneuvers.
Whittington said last fall that some of his constituents in Illinois were refugees from the Gujarat violence, prompting him to take action against Modi.
The US Department of State did not immediately comment on the ruling and an official of the Indian foreign ministry declined to comment.
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