Texas: A US district court in Texas has dismissed a $100 million lawsuit filed against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, according to reports. The case, ruled on by Judge Andrew S. Hanen, was terminated after the litigants – a separatist Kashmir Khalistan outfit and two associates – failed to appear before it at two scheduled hearings.
The suit was filed on Sept. 19, 2019, days before Modi’s historic “Howdy, Modi!” event in Houston, Texas. It challenged the Indian Parliament’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir that abrogated the special privileges of the State and carved out two Union Territories and sought a compensation of $100 million from Modi, Shah and Lt. Gen. Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, according to a report.
Dhillon is currently serving as the director-general of the Defense Intelligence Agency and deputy chief of integrated defense staff under the chief of defense staff. “Other than that attempted service,” the Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front “have done nothing to prosecute this case,” and have now failed to appear at two duly set scheduling conferences, US District Court Southern District of Texas Judge Frances H. Stacy said in his order dated Oct 6 and recommended that the case be dismissed, the report said.
The case was terminated by Hanen on Oct. 22. Apart from the Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front, the other two complainants have not been identified, other than the acronyms ‘TFK’ and ‘SMS’. The suing party was represented by separatist lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The Indian Parliament passed legislation last year changing the status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, modifying provisions that have been an obstacle to economic development and promoted a sense of separatism, it said. Modi, accompanied by President Donald Trump, had addressed a crowd of over 50,000 Indian Americans at the “Howdy, Modi!” event in Houston on Sept. 22, 2019.
As per court records, the Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front was able to serve the summons to Modi, Shah and Dhillon at the Indian Consulate in Houston on Feb. 18, 2020, the report said. A conference was set by the court for Aug. 2. A second conference was scheduled on Oct. 6.
Stacy said that representatives of the Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front failed to appear for the conference as such he recommended that the lawsuit be dismissed. Two weeks later, Hanen terminated the case, it said.
