American Justice Center

AJC challenges Narendra Modi’s immunity; announces $10,000 reward for serving US Court’s summons
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2014
New York City, New York, USA: The US based rights group American Justice Center today rejected the notion that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys full immunity against all litigation. Reacting to an Obama administration official’s statement that the visiting PM enjoyed immunity during his visit, AJC counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun stated, “Per the precedence established in the case of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the immunity extends only to acts committed during the individual’s tenure as head of state. Our case against Mr. Modi is related to his complicity in the Gujarat pogroms of 2002, when he was Chief Minister of the state.”

AJC also announced a reward of $10,000 for successful service of US court summons on the visiting Indian PM. The award for serving Modi has been announced due to the fact that the PM’s visit will only last 5 days and will include a packed schedule of meetings and speeches. Servers are expected to produce a video of the serving to be eligible for the award. The summons can be downloaded by clicking here: (Modi_Summons_&_Complaint).

The US Federal Court for the Southern District of New York had issued summons against the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his role in the massacres committed in Gujarat during 2002, when he was Chief Minister of the Indian state. Over 2,000 people were killed and around 100,000 displaced during February and March of 2002.

Attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to AJC stated that “We have every intention of serving the summons to PM Narendra Modi to hold him accountable before foreign courts for his complicity in the heinous human rights abuses committed during his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister.”

The American Justice Center (AJC) is a human rights organization dedicated to holding human rights abusers and perpetrators of mass violence accountable. AJC provides legal aid and international judicial redress to victims deprived of legitimate and legal means to justice.