Allahabad HC disposes petition questioning Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship

Rahul Gandhi

The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench disposed of a petition on Monday that questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship. The court allowed the petitioner to pursue other legal remedies.

A bench of Justices A.R. Masoodi and Rajiv Singh stated that since the central government could not provide a timeline for addressing the petitioner's complaint, there was no justification for keeping the petition pending.

The court informed the petitioner, S. Vignesh Shishir, a BJP worker from Karnataka, that he was free to explore alternative legal options.

In his public interest litigation (PIL), Shishir claimed to possess documents and emails from the British government that allegedly prove Rahul Gandhi is a British citizen. He argued that this would make Gandhi ineligible to contest elections in India and unable to hold the position of a Lok Sabha member.

During a previous hearing on April 21, the court was informed that the central government had contacted the UK government to seek details regarding the claims of Gandhi's British citizenship.

After this submission, the bench granted the central government time until May 5 to report back on the outcome of the petitioner's request to cancel Gandhi's candidacy for the 2024 Lok Sabha election due to the claims of dual citizenship.

Earlier, the petitioner had stated that he had submitted complaints twice to the relevant authority regarding Gandhi's alleged dual citizenship, but no action had been taken.

During a hearing on November 25, the court sought information from the central government regarding its decision on the petitioner's representation. Deputy Solicitor General S.B. Pandey informed the court that the relevant ministry had written to the UK government to investigate the claims about Gandhi's alleged British citizenship and would require more time to reach a final decision on the petitioner's representation.

(With PTI Inputs)