Sikh claims he was served US court summons, Badal was out shopping

In a curious turn to the human rights violations case against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in US, a Sikh man has claimed in the court that it was he who was served with the summons at the Oak Creek High School instead of Badal.

During a marathon hearing in the Federal District Court of Wisconsin on Thursday, Biskupic & Jacobs - the attorneys representing Badal - produced witnesses to buttress their assertion that the Punjab Chief Minister was shopping and was not present at the School when the New York-based Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) claims to have presented him with the court summons.

Badal was in Wisconsin for the wedding of daughter of Darshan Singh Dhaliwal in August 2012 when SFJ and SAD (Amritsar)filed a human rights violations lawsuit against him under Alien Torts Claims Act and Torture Victims Protection Act.

Appearing in support of Badal, before Judge Adelman, Surinderpal Singh Kalra, a Chicago-based Sikh, testified that "on February 19, 2013 he found original summons and complaint that the process server had given him at Oak Creek High School, in the trunk of his car".

He claimed that the papers were handed over to him and not to Badal. Kalra also testified under oath that upon finding the original summons, he "immediately contacted Dhaliwal. However, he could not explain when cross examined by rights group's attorneys that "what made him come forward after six months of silence and the circumstances of finding the original summons in the trunk of his car".

Special Agents from Diplomatic Security Service of the US Department of State testified that Badal was "shopping" at George Watts and Son Store and Boelter Super Store on August 09, 2012 from 4:49 PM to 5:09 PM, the day Christopher G Kratochvil claimed serving summons to Badal at 4:50 PM at Oak Creek High School, where a ceremony was being held in memory of Sikh victims of Oak Creek Gurdwara shooting.

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