The Allahabad High Court has granted the Union of India an extension of 10 days to decide on a representation seeking the cancellation of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Indian citizenship. The plea is being heard by a Division Bench comprising Justice Attau Rehman Masoodi and Justice Ajai Kumar Srivastava-I.
The representation in question was filed under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, read with Rule 40(2) and Schedule III of the Citizenship Rules, 2009. The petitioner, S. Vignesh Shishir, a BJP member from Karnataka, has approached the court with a request for a CBI investigation into Gandhi’s alleged British citizenship.
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"Deputy Solicitor General of India, Surya Bhan Pandey, requested additional time to decide on the matter," the court noted.
Following the request, the court posted the matter for the next hearing on May 5.
The petitioner, Vignesh, had earlier filed a similar PIL, which was dismissed, allowing him the liberty to move the competent authority. Based on that, he submitted a detailed representation to the Foreigners Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is still under consideration.
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The PIL claims that Vignesh collected new inputs regarding Gandhi’s alleged foreign citizenship. It mentions that he contacted the UK Government and received information through another individual, VSS Sarma, who had previously reached out to UK authorities in 2022. Sarma agreed to share confidential emails from the UK Government.
"The UK Government's email acknowledged the existence of records concerning Gandhi’s British nationality, but clarified that information could only be disclosed with Gandhi’s signed consent, as per the UK’s Data Protection Act, 2018," the plea highlights.
Vignesh’s petition treats this email response as an ‘outright admission’ that Rahul Gandhi holds British nationality.
Given this, the petitioner seeks:
- A CBI probe into the matter.
- A Letter of Request from a competent Indian court to obtain relevant records from the UK.
- A direction to the Chief Election Commissioner, Chief Electoral Officer of UP, and Returning Officer of Raebareli to cancel Gandhi’s electoral certificate.
"On March 26, the Union of India informed the Delhi High Court that the issue is still pending with the Ministry of Home Affairs," the article adds for context.
The case now awaits the Centre’s decision on the representation, with the next hearing scheduled for May 5.
