The lawsuit challenged the Indian Parliament’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir that repealed the state’s special privileges and sought compensation of $ 100 million from Modi, Shah, and Lt. Gen. Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon.
A US court dismissed a $ 100 million lawsuit filed against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of the Interior Amit Shah after the litigants, a Kashmiri-Khalistan separatist group and two associates, they did not appear before him at two scheduled hearings.
The lawsuit was filed on September 19, 2019, days before the historic “Hello, Modi!” From Modi. event in Houston, Texas. He challenged the Indian Parliament’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir which repealed the special privileges of the State and divided two Union Territories and asked for compensation of $ 100 million from Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah and Lieutenant General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon.
General Dhillon currently serves as Director General of the Defense Intelligence Agency and Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defense Staff under the Chief of Defense Staff.
“Other than that attempted service,” the Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front “has done nothing to prosecute this case,” and has now failed to appear at two duly scheduled Scheduling Conferences, said the South Texas District Court judge US District Court order of October 6 and recommended that the case be dismissed.
The case was terminated by Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the United States District Court in Texas on October 22.
Apart from the Kashmir and Khalistan Referendum Front, the other two complainants have not been identified, except for the acronyms “TFK” and “SMS”. The plaintiffs were represented by separatist lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
India’s Parliament passed a law last year that changed the status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, modifying provisions that have been an obstacle to economic development and promoting a sense of separatism.
Prime Minister Modi, accompanied by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, addressed a crowd of more than 50,000 Indian-Americans in the “Hello, Modi!” event in Houston on September 22, 2019.
According to court records, the Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front was able to deliver the summons to Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah and General Dhillon at the Indian Consulate in Houston on February 18, 2020.
The court set a conference for August 2. A second conference was scheduled for October 6.
Judge Stacy said that the representatives of the Kashmir and Khalistan Referendum Front did not appear at the conference, so he recommended that the lawsuit be dismissed. Two weeks later, Judge Hanen terminated the case.
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