A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela stated that it would be inappropriate for two High Courts to simultaneously address the same issue.
NEW DELHI: On Thursday(26th Sept), the Delhi High Court announced it will hear BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s plea for the revocation of Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship only after confirming the status of a similar petition currently being considered by the Allahabad High Court.
A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela stated that it would be inappropriate for two High Courts to simultaneously address the same issue.
“Isn’t the Allahabad High Court also dealing with this controversy? It would not be proper for two courts to handle the same matter at the same time,”
remarked ACJ Manmohan.
Justice Manmohan instructed Central Government Standing Counsel Apoorv Kurup to provide information on the proceedings in the Allahabad High Court.
The Court also requested a copy of the plea filed there and indicated it would determine whether to proceed with the hearing after reviewing the details of the Allahabad High Court case.
The matter is scheduled for the next hearing on October 9.
The Court referenced a petition filed before the Allahabad High Court by S. Vignesh Shishir, who has requested a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the citizenship of Gandhi. Similar to Subramanian Swamy’s plea, Shishir’s application asserts that Gandhi holds citizenship in the United Kingdom (UK).
On Wednesday, the Allahabad High Court instructed the Central Government to provide details regarding the status of Shishir’s representation submitted to the Home Ministry. Swamy’s petition claims that Gandhi is a British national and seeks directions for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to address his request for the cancellation of Gandhi’s Indian citizenship.
In his 2019 letter to the MHA, Swamy alleged that a company named Backops Limited was registered in the UK in 2003, with Gandhi serving as one of its Directors and Secretaries. He pointed out that Gandhi declared his nationality as British in the company’s annual returns filed on October 10, 2005, and October 31, 2006.
Furthermore, in the dissolution application submitted on February 17, 2009, Gandhi’s nationality was again noted as British. Swamy contended that this situation violates Article 9 of the Constitution of India and the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955.
The MHA had reached out to Gandhi on April 29, 2019, requesting him to clarify his position within two weeks. However, Swamy argued that more than five years have passed since his initial letter, yet there remains no clear response from the MHA regarding their decision.
Previously, Swamy’s plea was presented before Justice Sanjeev Narula, who directed the matter to the bench that handles public interest litigation (PIL) petitions.
Justice Narula remarked that Swamy had not established any “enforceable constitutional rights” that would justify issuing writ directions to the MHA. Nevertheless, he acknowledged the public interest involved and forwarded the case to the PIL bench, with Swamy personally presenting his arguments.
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