:dateline:A Sikh rights body in US has said that it will use provisions of the Hague Service Treaty to serve the summons of a US court to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, in a case accusing him of human rights violation. The Hague Service Treaty, of which India is a signatory allows service of judicial papers between the signatory countries without diplomatic involvement.
The Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) which earlier filed a human rights violation case against Badal along with the Akali Dal (Mann) took this decision after it failed to serve summons to Badal recently. �We will use Hague Service Convention to serve outstanding Federal summons on Badal in India to make him accountable before Wisconsin Federal court for protecting and commanding a police force responsible for torture and extra judicial killings of Sikhs in the state of Punjab,� said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to SFJ. The Eastern District of Wisconsin has given SFJ until October 24 to serve the summons on CM Badal in a human rights violation lawsuit.
The complaint alleges that Badal and the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, throughout their tenure �have actively shielded, protected and promoted the police who were or have been involved in gross human rights violations, extra judicial killings and torture�. SFJ added that it has retained the services of, Process Forwarding International (PFI), a Washington based company to accomplish service on Badal in India. �PFI is the official Process Server to �United States Department of Justice� and �US Department of State� and has extensive experience in executing service of process with authority using approved international law methods,� it said.
The rights group added that under the Hague Service treaty, a central authority has been established by the Indian Government for receiving and serving judicial documents from foreign courts as provided under �Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters�.
�Under Article 15 of the Hague Service Convention, a service is considered complete once the copy of summons and complaint is delivered to the Central Authority of India which is responsible to receive judicial documents from foreign courts,� said SFJ. A similar case against Badal was dismissed by a Wisconsin court last year after SFJ served the summons to another person instead of Badal.
