The Delhi High Court questioned the Indian government on its inaction regarding BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s claims about Rahul Gandhi’s alleged British citizenship, scheduling further hearings for clarity on the matter.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (Feb 19th) questioned the Central government on why it has not responded to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s representation regarding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s alleged British citizenship.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma to obtain instructions regarding the matter.
“The prayer is not to make a decision on the substantive issues of the pending matter in either of the matters pending here or in Allahabad. He is only seeking directions on his representations. Seek instructions then regarding the stage of the proceeding regarding the letter,”
the Court told ASG Sharma.
Swamy pointed out that the government had issued a show cause notice to Gandhi, asking him to explain his British citizenship, but there was no response from Gandhi, nor was any action taken by the government afterward.
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“The Government of India, on my letter to the Home Ministry, wrote a show cause notice to Gandhi to explain the data brought on record to show that he is also a British citizen. Under Indian law, no Indian can have citizenship of any other country. This was never replied to, no reminders were sent, and no action was taken by the government. The government must complete its responsibility,”
Swamy contended.
In light of this, the Court scheduled the next hearing for March 26 and instructed the ASG to obtain updates on the status of Swamy’s representation.
“List on March 26 to enable ASG to complete their instructions, specially keeping in view the document enclosed as Annexure P2 in the petition, which is a 2019 letter issued by MHA,”
the Court stated.
Swamy’s petition seeks directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to decide on his representation to cancel Gandhi’s Indian citizenship.
In 2019, Swamy wrote to the MHA, alleging that a company named Backops Limited was registered in the UK in 2003, with Gandhi as one of its Directors and Secretary.
Swamy claims that in the company’s annual returns filed in 2005 and 2006, Gandhi declared his nationality as British. Additionally, in the company’s dissolution application in 2009, Gandhi’s nationality was again mentioned as British.
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According to Swamy’s petition, this violates Article 9 of the Indian Constitution and the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955.
The MHA had written to Gandhi on April 29, 2019, asking him to clarify his nationality within a fortnight, but Swamy argues that no action has been taken even after five years.
The Delhi High Court had earlier deferred the matter because a similar plea was pending before the Allahabad High Court, where petitioner S. Vignesh Shishir sought a CBI probe into Gandhi’s citizenship.
In November 2024, the Allahabad High Court directed the Union Home Ministry to take a decision on Shishir’s representation.
During the hearing, Swamy reiterated that the government has not taken any further action despite his representation. Interestingly, Shishir also appeared before the Delhi High Court, stating that the Allahabad High Court is already handling the issue.
“They are not the same prayers,”
Swamy argued.
The Bench asked Shishir,
“What do you want here from us?”
Shishir responded,
“This case has become infructuous because of the submissions made by the Government of India before the Allahabad High Court that they are at the final stage of taking a decision.”
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela responded,
“You may assist and supplement when called for.”
ASG Chetan Sharma then clarified that the pendency of the case in the Allahabad High Court does not prevent the Delhi High Court from considering the matter.
“The pendency in the Allahabad High Court is no bar for My Lords to consider this matter. In the previous hearings, the Court sought records from Allahabad High Court to see if any parallel proceedings were going on. No cavil,”
he said.
With the next hearing scheduled for March 26, all eyes are now on the Centre’s response to Swamy’s long-standing allegations.
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