US-Court issues summons against Indias ruling coalition chief

A US-Court has issued a summons against Sonia Gandhi who heads the ruling coalition in India, loca lNDTV news channel reported Wednesday. Gandhi, who is also president of the ruling Indian National Congress, was summoned for allegedly "shielding and protecting" the leaders of her party who were accused of being involved in the anti-Sikh riots in India in 1984, the channel reported. The anti-Sikh riots started in the capital city of Delhi in 1984 following the killing of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguard. During the riots, it is estimated more than 3000 sikhs were killed by the angry mobs and property worth millions of Indian rupees were destroyed. The news channel reported that the US Court had been petitioned by the human rights group, Sikhs For Justice. Gandhi is currently in the US for a medical check-up, the channel said. "A summons issued almost 30 years after the event when the Congress president is on a medical visit is, to put it mildly, astonishing. Undoubtedly, appropriate legal action will be taken," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi was quoted as saying by the INDTV.