Allahabad HC to hear govt's response on Rahul Gandhi's citizenship plea

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court is set to hear a petition challenging the citizenship status of Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday, with the Central Government directed to provide a clear response on whether Gandhi is an Indian citizen.

In the last hearing, the court expressed dissatisfaction with the status report by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to directly address whether Gandhi is an Indian citizen. The bench had then granted 10 days for the government to submit a revised report, explicitly answering the question of Gandhi's citizenship status following a petition filed alleging that the Congress MP has dual citizenship. 

The court was hearing a plea that claimed Rahul Gandhi is also a citizen of the United Kingdom, which would make him ineligible to be a member of the Lok Sabha.

The petition claims that Rahul Gandhi's alleged citizenship of another country contravenes Indian law, which doesn't permit dual citizenship.

The counsel representing the MHA has requested additional time to verify information from the UK government, and the court has now set a new deadline of May 5 for the next hearing.

In 2019, the MHA issued a notice to Gandhi regarding his citizenship after receiving a complaint from then Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy. 

Swamy has alleged that a company named Backops Limited was registered in the United Kingdom in the year 2003 and that Gandhi was one of the Directors and secretaries of the company.

Subramanian Swamy has also stated that the Congress leader had declared his nationality as British in a UK-based company.

"It has been further brought out in the complaint that in the Company's Annual Returns filed on October 10, 2005, and October 31, 2006, your date of birth has been given as June 19, 1970, and that you had declared your nationality as British. Further, in the Dissolution application dated 17/02/2009 of the above-referred company, your nationality has been mentioned as British," the notice read.