LOC17:35
14:35 GMT
NEW DELHI, Sept 4 (KUNA) -- A US-Court has issued a summons against Sonia
Gandhi who heads the ruling coalition in India, loca lNDTV news channel
reported Wednesday.
Gandhi, who is also president of the ruling Indian National Congress, was
summoned for allegedly "shielding and protecting" the leaders of her party who
were accused of being involved in the anti-Sikh riots in India in 1984, the
channel reported.
The anti-Sikh riots started in the capital city of Delhi in 1984 following
the killing of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguard.
During the riots, it is estimated more than 3000 sikhs were killed by the
angry mobs and property worth millions of Indian rupees were destroyed.
The news channel reported that the US Court had been petitioned by the
human rights group, Sikhs For Justice.
Gandhi is currently in the US for a medical check-up, the channel said.
"A summons issued almost 30 years after the event when the Congress
president is on a medical visit is, to put it mildly, astonishing.
Undoubtedly, appropriate legal action will be taken," Congress spokesperson
Abhishek Manu Singhvi was quoted as saying by the INDTV. (end)
wk.ajs
KUNA 041735 Sep 13NNNN