NEW YORK: Maintaining that the government of India has told her not to disclose her travels which are contained in her passport, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday refused to provide a copy of her passport to a US court and has instead given up her plea contesting the jurisdiction of the court in a rights violation case filed against her.

The case against Ms Gandhi was filed by the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) in reference to the 1984 “genocide” of Sikhs.

US Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York on March 20 ordered Sonia Gandhi to give copy of her passport “to corroborate her otherwise-unsupported declaration stating that defendant was not in the United States at the time of service” of summons — Sept 2 to 9, 2013 in New York.

"In matters of disclosure of my travels which are contained in the passport document, the government of India has informed me that they would not permit such a disclosure.

However, as I have nothing to hide I voluntarily relinquish the plea of lack of personal jurisdiction.

I may add that present submission is without prejudice to the plea of want of jurisdiction in relation to the subject matter,” Sonia Gandhi wrote in her April 5 letter to her counsel Ravi Batra who further submitted it in the court with his representation on April 7.

As per Federal Rules, since defendant Sonia Gandhi has conceded to court's personal jurisdiction by withdrawing objection to service, the court will move to subject matter jurisdiction to hear the charges of shielding and protecting those responsible for 1984 attacks under the Alien Torts Claim Act (ATCA) and Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA).

For several months Sonia Gandhi through her attorney mislead the court and mounted a defamatory campaign against the plaintiffs for filing a frivolous case against her claiming that she was not even present in the United States, a press release by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) said.

However, after several months of onslaught and raising hue and cry Sonia Gandhi has now withdrawn her objection to proper service and conceded her presence in the United States, stated attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun legal advisor to Sikhs For Justice (SFJ).

This is a classic example of how the successive governments have thwarted attempts of 1984 victims to seek justice”, added attorney Pannun.