SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA — Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose, the largest Sikh temple in North America, has obtained a significant victory in a libel lawsuit against Amritsar Publication & Media Group, publisher of Amritsar Times, the largest circulated newspaper in the Punjabi language in California, New York, New Jersey, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Michigan, Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston, read by more than 100,000 people. In a ruling on April 14, 2010, Judge Mark H. Pierce of the California Superior Court, Santa Clara County, rejected a motion by Amritsar Times to strike the suit under California’s anti-SLAPP statute.  According to Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose’s lead attorney in the case, Steven Tidrick of the Tidrick Law Firm, “anti-SLAPP is a procedure to prevent lawsuits brought to chill the valid exercise of constitutional rights, including freedom of speech.  We provided evidence that many statements in the Amritsar Times were false and malicious. The Court’s ruling allows the case to proceed toward trial.”
The lawsuit alleges that the Amritsar Times committed libel when it published a series of several newspaper articles about Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose beginning in September 3-10, 2008, including articles titled “Staged election is a clear violation of Gurdwara bylaws,” “The second stage of construction of San Jose Gurdwara building is in crisis,” and others.  According to the lawsuit, many portions of the Amritsar Times articles were false, for example:

•         Statements that an election held at Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose on August 31, 2008 was illegal and contrary to the Gurdwara’s bylaws

•         Statements that the construction project of Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose is faced with a financial crisis

•         Statements that the Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose congregation is being misled by false propaganda of the management
The lawsuit alleges that Amritsar Times published the articles with malice, hatred, and ill will toward Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose and sought to injure the Gurdwara.  The lawsuit also alleges that the Gurdwara had a good reputation before the Amritsar Times published the libelous articles, and that the articles caused the Gurdwara to suffer a loss of reputation, shame, and a decline in expected financial donations. In a written opinion denying the Amritsar Times’ motion, Judge Pierce ruled as follows:
•         Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose “demonstrates that many statements [published in the Amritsar Times] are provably false statements of fact” (page 3:16-17)

•         Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose “provides a prima facie showing of facts to show the [Amritsar Times] has published false statements (page 3:21-22)

•         Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose “presents evidence sufficient to establish a prima facie case of actual malice” by the Amritsar Publication & Media Group against Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose (page 4:9-10)

•         Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose “has demonstrated a probability of prevailing on the claim” (page 4:19-20)

Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose seeks an unspecified amount of damages in the lawsuit, including compensatory damages, punitive damages, and costs of suit. The lawsuit was filed in California Superior Court in San Jose, California, on September 3, 2009.  The case number is 1-09-CV-151510.For more information about the lawsuit, please contact Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose’s lead attorney in the case, Steven Tidrick, The Tidrick Law Firm, Oakland, California, at 510-381-3832 (phone) or by email at sgt@tidricklaw.com.