Gandhi delight over libel victory

Sanjay Gandhi - killed in a plane crash in 1980

Indian minister Maneka Gandhi says she is delighted at having won a libel case in Britain over a biography of her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The lawyer for biographer Katherine Frank and publishers Harper Collins accepted on Thursday that allegations that Maneka Gandhi had been involved in the cover-up of a murder were "wholly false and totally without foundation".

Mrs Gandhi told the BBC the outcome of the case was never in doubt because the book was "utter trash".

She is to receive undisclosed damages and legal costs for the libel, which falsely claimed she had helped her then husband, Sanjay, cover up the murder of an Indian underworld figure, known as Sunderlal.

She also objected to remarks about her mother-in-law's personal life.

Family honour

The court heard that the book, Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi, had caused Maneka Gandhi "grave offence".

Indira Gandhi
	SETTLEMENT TERMS Allegations "utterly false" Offensive passages to be cut out of future editions Undisclosed damages to Maneka Gandhi

Harper Collins have agreed to remove the offending passages from future editions of the book.

Mrs Gandhi, the federal Minister for Culture, said she had taken the case to court for the honour of the Nehru-Gandhi family, the dominant family in Indian politics.

Maneka married Sanjay Gandhi in 1974. She entered politics after Sanjay's death in a plane crash.

She has won several elections and is currently an independent member of the lower House of Parliament, where she represents the Pilibhit constituency in the state of Uttaranchal.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.

Maneka's brother-in-law, Rajiv, was assassinated in 1991 in an attack blamed on Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers.