Delhi court to rule on complaint against Sonia over voter list forgery

A Delhi court is scheduled to pronounce its order on Thursday at 4 pm on a criminal complaint filed against Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, accusing her of forging documents to get herself enrolled in the voters' list before obtaining Indian citizenship.

The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Vaibhav Chaurasiya had reserved the order on Wednesday after hearing arguments and putting certain queries to the counsel for the complainant, advocate Vikas Tripathi.

Senior advocates Pavan Narang, Anil Soni, along with advocates Neeraj and Himanshu Sethi, appeared on behalf of Tripathi. They argued that the inclusion of Gandhi's name in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency voter list in 1980-81 was irregular, as she was not an Indian citizen at the time.

"The first threshold to be enrolled as a voter is acquiring Indian citizenship. The second is proof of residence. In January 1980, she was not a citizen of India. How then could her name be included in the electoral rolls?" Narang submitted. He further noted that Gandhi's name was deleted from the voters' list in 1982, only to reappear in 1983, shortly before she formally became an Indian national.

According to the complaint, Gandhi, originally an Italian citizen, became an Indian national only on April 30, 1983, under Section 5 of the Citizenship Act. However, her name was found in electoral records from 1981-82, raising questions about the authenticity of documents provided to the Election Commission.

Narang contended that the deletion of her name from the rolls in 1982 suggested irregularities, adding that "a public authority was misled, and a fraud appears to have been committed". He argued that forged or falsified documents may have been used to secure her inclusion.

The petition further claims that despite approaching the Delhi Police and senior officers, no action was taken, leaving the complainant with no option but to move the court. The plea seeks registration of an FIR and a full investigation into the alleged offences.

Citing precedent, Narang also referred to a 1985 Allahabad High Court ruling in Rakesh Singh vs Sonia Gandhi, which acknowledged that she became an Indian citizen on April 30, 1983, by registration. The present plea asserts that any voter enrollment before that date was unlawful.

During arguments, Narang emphasised that the issue was legal rather than political, pointing out that the allegations amount to a "cognizable offence" requiring police investigation.

The Rouse Avenue Court had earlier noted that arguments from the petitioner's side were complete and had fixed September 10 for further hearing. With the order now reserved, all eyes are on ACJM Chaurasiya's ruling this afternoon, which could determine whether a criminal investigation will proceed into the decades-old allegations.