Allahabad HC Gives 4 Weeks To Centre To Decide On Rahul Gandhi’s Citizenship

On Monday, the Allahabad High Court allowed the Centre four weeks to make a decision regarding Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship matter. The Lucknow bench of the High Court, which includes Justice AR Masoodi and Justice Ajay Kumar Srivastava, was reviewing a petition from BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, claiming that Rahul Gandhi had identified himself as a British citizen in papers presented to British officials .

The Centre requested eight weeks to submit the status report. The court has scheduled the next hearing date for April 21.

Swamy’s application stated that on August 6, 2019, a letter was dispatched to the ministry claiming Gandhi had “voluntarily revealed” to the British government that he was a citizen of British nationality, which equated to possessing a British passport.

Swamy stated that the Congress leader, as an Indian citizen, breached Article 9 of the Constitution in conjunction with the Indian Citizenship Act, resulting in the loss of Indian citizenship. He asserted that he had submitted multiple inquiries to the ministry regarding his complaint’s status, yet no action was taken nor was he informed about it.

In November of the previous year, the Centre informed the High Court that it was reviewing a petition regarding the Rae Bareli MP’s alleged dual citizenship. This submission from the Centre occurred while the court was considering a plea from advocate and BJP leader Vignesh Shishir, who also requested a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into Gandhi’s citizenship.