Only as long as he is in office, though.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW YORK: The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara has clarified that the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi enjoys immunity from the human rights violation lawsuit filed against him, but has left open to interpretation if he could be prosecuted in the US once he leaves office.
Bharara told a federal court in New York that the Executive Branch of the US government “has determined that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the sitting head of a foreign government, enjoys head of state immunity from the jurisdiction of US courts.”
He added: “Modi is entitled to immunity from the jurisdiction of this court over this suit.”
The lawsuit against Modi was filed by the New York-based American Justice Center (AJC), a non-profit human rights organization, to bring Modi to court over the Godhra riots in India in 2002, and to seek compensation for victims of those riots.
However, Bharara also left it open to interpretation if Modi could face charges in the US once he leaves office of the prime minister.
Bharara said under the customary international law principles accepted by the Executive Branch, head of state immunity attaches to a head of state’s or head of government’s status as the current holder of office.
“After a head of state or head of government leaves office, however, that individual generally retains residual immunity only for acts taken in an official capacity while in that position,” he said.
In a statement, AJC said that it will contest the “suggestion of Immunity” filed by the US administration in the Alien Tort case filed against Modi when he visited the US in September, 2014, according to the Press Trust of India.
“We will challenge the suggestion of immunity by the US Government,” said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, attorney for the AJC. “The suggestion by the US Department of State not only violates the US laws and established US policy on the issue of human rights violations but also violates several provisions of US Laws such as Human Rights Enforcement Act and International Religious Freedom Act.”