Today, On 14th May, The Allahabad High Court rejected a PIL demanding the cancellation of Rahul Gandhi’s Indian citizenship, stating there was “no evidence” to show he holds another passport or citizenship in any other country.
The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) aimed at revoking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Indian citizenship.
This marks the third plea submitted by Vignesh Shishir regarding Gandhi’s citizenship, with the Court having previously dismissed his earlier petitions.
A Division Bench comprised of Justices Attau R. Masoodi and Ajai Kumar Srivastava stated that there was no evidence presented to demonstrate that Gandhi possesses another passport or holds citizenship in another country.
The Court remarked,
“Where is that passport…don’t fly paper at us…where is that passport on record?”
The Bench also pointed out that the petitioner had already made a representation to the Central government, and the Court could not intervene unless a legally valid argument was provided.
Ultimately, the Court permitted Shishir to withdraw his petition, allowing him the option to file a review of the earlier order.
Shishir claimed to have a video showing Gandhi entering Vietnam with a British passport and alleged that the UK government had sent this passport to the Indian government.
Shishir asserted,
“I have 200 pages to show Gandhi is a citizen of the UK,”
However, the Bench was not convinced by his arguments and chose not to entertain the plea.
The Court concluded,
“Dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to file a review of the previous order (May 5),”
The PIL seeks a directive from the Union of India to revoke Rahul Gandhi’s Indian passport, claiming he is not a citizen of India. It also requests the registration of a criminal case against him under Section 12 of The Passports Act, 1967, for allegedly providing false information to obtain his passport.
The plea expresses concern that if Gandhi is not restricted from traveling abroad while the petition is pending, he may abscond or seek asylum in another country to evade legal proceedings in India.
In a previous petition, Shishir had requested the Chief Election Commissioner, the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh, and the Returning Officer of Raebareli to cancel Gandhi’s electoral certificate. He also called for a CBI investigation into his alleged British citizenship.
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Additionally, he submitted a detailed representation to the Foreigners Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, asking for the cancellation of Gandhi’s Indian citizenship. This representation was made under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, in conjunction with Rule 40(2) of the Citizenship Rules, 2009.
Section 40 of the 2009 Rules pertains to the Central Government’s authority to determine the circumstances under which an Indian citizen may have acquired citizenship of another country.
Vignesh filed this representation following the dismissal of a similar PIL plea, which was withdrawn earlier with the understanding that he could approach the appropriate authority under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act as permitted by law.