Today, On 9th October, The Delhi High Court granted Subramanian Swamy additional time to present documents related to his petition questioning Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship. Swamy had raised concerns over Gandhi’s alleged dual citizenship status. The court has allowed him more time to provide necessary evidence to support his claims.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted BJP leader Subramanian Swamy additional time to file a copy of the petition currently pending before the Allahabad High Court concerning Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship issue.
Swamy informed the court that he had obtained the petition copy, clarifying that the prayers in that case differ from those in his own plea.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela instructed Swamy to file the documents electronically, in compliance with its previous order, and scheduled the next hearing for November 6.
The court hearing Swamy’s petition seeking directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to decide on his representation demanding the cancellation of Rahul Gandhi’s Indian citizenship. Swamy also requested that the MHA provide a status report on his representation, which filed against Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
At the outset, Swamy emphasized that,
“The matter before the Allahabad High Court has nothing to do with his case and the prayers are totally different.”
In response, the bench noted,
“Okay, we will see.”
The Delhi High Court previously granted time to Subramanian Swamy to obtain a copy of the petition filed before the Allahabad High Court regarding the issue of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship.
The Delhi High Court noted that a similar matter was being heard by the Allahabad High Court and stated that two courts could not address the same issue simultaneously.
The court emphasized that, before moving forward with Swamy’s plea,
“It will be in the interest of justice to be informed about the petition pending in the Allahabad High Court.”
Swamy’s petition, filed by advocate Satya Sabharwal, highlighted that on August 6, 2019, Swamy had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs alleging that,
“Gandhi had voluntarily disclosed to the British government that he held British nationality, which implied possession of a British passport.”
Earlier, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had asked the Centre whether it had made any decision on a representation filed under the Citizenship Act, 1955, requesting an inquiry into the allegations.
This came in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) submitted by BJP worker S. Vignesh Shishir from Karnataka, who claimed to have conducted detailed inquiries into the issue of Gandhi’s British citizenship, uncovering several new pieces of evidence.
In his plea before the Delhi High Court, Swamy argued that Rahul Gandhi, as an Indian citizen, had violated Article 9 of the Constitution in conjunction with the Indian Citizenship Act, which would result in the loss of his Indian citizenship. Swamy further mentioned that despite sending multiple representations to the ministry seeking updates on his complaint, no action had been taken nor had he received any response.