Shravan Pournima
By Dharam Shourie
New York: A New Jersey court has dismissed a defamation suit filed by a US-based group seeking 100 million dollars from several parties for allegedly maligning Congress President Sonia Gandhi during her visit here last year, saying the outfit has no locus standi to claim damages.
The case was filed by the Indian National Overseas Congress against the parties for bringing a full-page advertisement in New York Times that levelled several accusations against Sonia and her son Rahul coinciding with the UPA chairperson’s visit to the UN last year.
The defendants’ lawyer Marc D Haefner said the judge yesterday held that INOC was not the proper party and did not have the locus standi to bring a claim of defamation because none of the statements were of or about it.
A detailed judgment would be made available next week.
IONC had filed two separate cases relating to the full-page advertisement, one in New Jersey and another in New York, demanding USD 100 million in actual, compensatory, and punitive damages in addition to costs and disbursements, legal fee and other relief that the court might consider proper.
Both IONC and defendants in the case filed in New York have already filed written submissions and oral arguments were scheduled for October 2.
The case in New York was filed against Narain Kataria and Arish Sahani of "Forum for Saving Gandhi’s Heritage" whose names appeared in the advertisement.
The defendants in the New Jersey case were Hindu International Council Against Defamation, Mahatma Gandhi International Foundation, Hindu International Council Against Defamation, Mahatma Gandhi Center and Hindu Temple, Naresh Sharma, Satyanarayana Dospati and Sunanda Thali whose names appeared on the advertisement.
Source: Outlook India
