Citing security concerns, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has refused to provide a copy of her passport to a US court as evidence in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the US court and said that the Indian government has denied her permission for the same due to security concerns.
The court had issued directions to the Congress chief after a Sikh group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), registered the complaint against the Congress chief that it had served summons to Sonia Gandhi when she was allegedly visiting Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York for treatment.
The lawsuit against Gandhi hinges on the issue of whether she was served summons on September 9 as the group claims or whether she was not present in the US during that time as per her assertion.
The SFJ has sought compensatory and punitive damages from Gandhi for her alleged role in “shielding and protecting” Congress party leaders including Kamal Nath, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler from prosecution for their alleged role in the 1984 riots.
Gandhi’s attorney Ravi Batra on Monday submitted before the court that his client has “nothing to hide”.
Batra handed over to court as exhibit a letter dated April 5 signed by Gandhi to him in which she states that “in matters of disclosure of my travels, which are contained in the passport document, the Government of India has informed me that they would not permit such a disclosure.
“However, as I have nothing to hide, I voluntarily relinquish the plea of lack of personal jurisdiction. I may add that the present submission is without prejudice to the plea of want of jurisdiction in relation to the subject matter.”
