M A I N   N E W S

special to the tribune
US court issues summons, but PM enjoys immunity
Ashish Kumar Sen in Washington DC

Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys immunity as a sitting head of government from a lawsuit filed in a New York court that seeks punitive damages and compensation from him for his alleged role in the Gujarat riots in 2002, senior US administration officials said on Friday.

US officials, who spoke on background, insisted that the lawsuit will not cloud Modi's visit to the US, which includes an address by the PM to the UN General Assembly, a celebration hosted by the Indian-American community at Madison Square Garden in New York, meetings with US business leaders, and a dinner and meetings with US President Barack Obama in Washington.

The lawsuit filed by the American Justice Center, a human rights group, includes two survivors of the riots among the plaintiffs. Judge Analisa Torres on Thursday issued summons to Modi in response to the 28-page complaint filed in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York. Modi was ordered to respond within 21 days after the summons are served.

However, senior US officials said the summons will not be served. "As a general legal principle, sitting heads of government enjoy immunity from suits in American courts. Sitting heads of government also enjoy personal inviolability while in the US, which means they cannot be personally handed or delivered papers or summons to begin the process of a lawsuit," a senior US official said.