A US court has dismissed a lawsuit against the Congress party relating to the November 1984 anti-Sikh violence, saying it did not sufficiently “touch and concern” the US court to exercise jurisdiction.
Judge Robert Sweet granted a motion by the Congress party to dismiss the 1984-lawsuit filed by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), ruling that the rights group cannot be a plaintiff and individual plaintiffs are not “legal representatives”.
SFJ said it would challenge the order in an appeals court on the grounds that the case sufficiently “touches and concerns” the US and SFJ has “institutional standing” to seek “declaratory judgment” for the 1984 violence against Sikhs. It has time till May 23 to file its appeal.
Congress party’s attorney Ravi Batra said the judge has ruled that SFJ and other named plaintiffs in the case lack legal standing to file such a case.
The court dismissed the case also for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and barred SFJ from filing any additional amendment of the complaint, as it would be futile.