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Synopsis

The Allahabad High Court today adjourned the hearing in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a CBI probe into Congress leader and LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's alleged British Citizenship till October 24.

On the previous date, the court had asked the government to clarify whether it had received any representation from BJP Karnataka member S. Vignesh (the PIL petitioner) concerning Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's alleged British citizenship, and if so, what action had been taken in response.

Today, the court was apprised that the petitioner's representation has been received, however, Deputy Solicitor General of India, Surya Bhan Pandey, sought time to receive written instructions from the Union Home Ministry regarding its status.

The DSGI informed the bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla that the Union Home Ministry had verbally acknowledged receiving a representation from the petitioner.

The petitioner has claimed that parallelly, he has filed a complaint before the CBI and sought a probe into Gandhi's alleged foreign citizenship.

The present PIL seeks to invalidate Gandhi's election as the Member of Parliament (MP) from Rae Bareli, arguing that, if he is indeed a British citizen, he was ineligible to stand for election. The petition asserts that Gandhi’s Indian citizenship, if obtained after 2003/2006, should have been declared at the time of his nomination, in line with Article 84(a) of the Indian Constitution, which disqualifies foreign citizens from being elected as MPs.

The petition claims to have received information from VSS Sarma, a Canadian citizen, about a communication from the UK Government concerning Gandhi’s British citizenship.

This new PIL comes two months after a previous petition on the same issue, which was withdrawn. The High Court’s order on July 1, 2024, had advised Vignesh to approach the competent authority under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Following the dismissal of his earlier petition, Vignesh alleged that he has submitted a detailed representation to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which remains under review. He also conducted further inquiries, receiving ‘new inputs’ and requesting details from the UK Government about Gandhi’s citizenship records. According to Vignesh, the UK Government’s response indicates that Gandhi’s British citizenship records exist but cannot be released without his consent, as per the UK General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act, 2018.

The PIL argues that the UK Government’s response implicitly confirms Gandhi’s British nationality and requests the CBI to obtain a Letter of Rogatory from an Indian court to retrieve all relevant information from the UK Government regarding Gandhi's citizenship. Additionally, the petition calls for the Chief Election Commissioner, the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh, and the Returning Officer of Rae Bareli to annul Gandhi’s election certificate.

Notably, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has also filed a petition in the Delhi High Court regarding Gandhi's citizenship status.

Last week, Swamy’s counsel submitted before the Delhi High Court that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) did not respond to his questions despite him providing his written submissions. He emphatically stated that this was an important matter and that he had been consistently seeking responses regarding it.

However, the division bench comprising ACJ Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela reserved their judgment in the matter citing a similar case being heard in the Allahabad High Court. The court opined that it would not be proper for two High Courts to hear two similar matters simultaneously.

Case Title: S Vignesh Shishir v. Sri Rahul Gandhi and 13 Others