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.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS