American court asks for Modi's US visa records by February

A US judge has ordered the State Department to produce all documents by February regarding the Obama administration's decision to revoke a ban on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's entry to the US.

Judge John Koeltl of the Southern District of New York, in an order dated December 9, stated that the Department of State will make an "initial production of discovery" in mid-January 2016 and will submit more details by February.

"The next conference in this case will take place on February 29, 2016," Koeltl said.

In September, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) had filed a complaint challenging the failure of the State Department to produce the documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records from June 2013 onwards regarding visa and entry to Modi in the US.

In August last year, SFJ had filed a request under FOIA demanding release of seven key categories of documents relating to the decisions by the Bush and Obama administrations to ban and facilitate Modi's entry into the US.