New Delhi, Dec 6 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the Union government’s stand on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to cancel the Indian citizenship of Rahul Gandhi, who has “declared himself a British citizen”.
A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Vibhu Bakhru asked the Union government’s standing counsel to obtain instructions from the Union Home Ministry on the matter.
The Bench, also comprising Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, listed Subramanian Swamy’s PIL for the next hearing on January 13, 2025, after it was apprised that the previous standing counsel has been recently designated as a senior advocate and the matter has to be assigned to a new counsel.
The ACJ Bakhru-led Bench declined to issue a formal notice to the respondents but asked the Union government’s standing counsel to obtain instructions in the matter.
In an earlier hearing, the Delhi HC had asked Swamy’s lawyer to place on record the copy of the order passed by the Allahabad High Court in a petition raising a similar issue.
It had remarked that the same issue should not be heard simultaneously before two different forums in the interest of justice.
“We intend to doubly make sure that we do not usurp the other High Court’s jurisdiction,” it had said.
The plea filed by Swamy before the Delhi High Court sought direction to the Union Home Ministry to furnish a status report on the complaint/representation filed by him against Gandhi and decide it at the earliest.
The BJP leader, in 2019, wrote a letter to the Union Home Ministry on violations made by Rahul Gandhi in voluntarily disclosing to the UK government that he is a citizen of British nationality, holding a British passport.
Swamy said that with this declaration, the Congress leader ceases to be an Indian Citizen in terms of Article 9 of the Constitution read with the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955.
“A Company named Backops Limited was registered in the United Kingdom in the year 2003, with address 51 Southgate Street, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 9EH, where Gandhi was one of the Directors and Secretary of the said company. In the Company’s Annual Returns filed on 10/10/2005 and 31/10/2006, your (Gandhi) date of birth has been given as 19/06/1970 and 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,” said the Union Home Ministry in correspondence to Rahul Gandhi on Swamy’s complaint.
In his petition filed through advocate Satya Sabharwal, Swamy said that he sent many representations to the Home Ministry asking for an update and the status of his complaint, but no action has been taken or intimated to him about the same.
“Hence, this petition for direction to Respondent No. 1 (Home Ministry) to furnish a status report on the complaint/representation filed by the petitioner against Respondent No.2 (Rahul Gandhi) and to decide the complaint/representation filed by the petitioner at the earliest and to furnish the conclusion / final order of the complaint/representation filed,” the plea said.
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