Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the Home Ministry to make a decision regarding Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s alleged dual citizenship by April 21. The court has granted the ministry four weeks to address the matter.
The ongoing controversy over Gandhi’s citizenship has been a subject of legal proceedings for several years. The current case is based on a petition filed by a private individual from Karnataka, Vignesh Shishir, a lawyer believed to have links with the BJP. Shishir has called for an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), claiming to possess new evidence that points to Gandhi holding citizenship in another country.
Shishir claims to have confidential emails from the British government, which he asserts show Gandhi’s inclusion in the UK’s citizenship records. He has argued that under Indian law, dual citizenship is not permitted, and once a person acquires citizenship in another country, their Indian citizenship is automatically revoked.
“We have direct communication from the UK government that Mr. Gandhi is in their citizenship records,” Shishir said, presenting documents to support his claim. “Under Indian law, dual citizenship is not allowed. Once someone takes the citizenship of another nation, Indian citizenship gets cancelled.”
In a previous hearing in November last year, a bench consisting of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla had instructed the Deputy Solicitor General, SB Pandey, to provide the Home Ministry’s response on the issue. The ministry was given three weeks to respond at that time.
Simultaneously, the Delhi High Court is hearing a similar petition filed by former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2019. Swamy, who first raised the citizenship issue in 2015, has also pushed for action on Gandhi’s citizenship status. In February, the Delhi High Court directed the Centre to seek instructions on the matter. The court raised concerns about the Centre’s lack of action despite dual proceedings in both Allahabad and Delhi.
The Congress Party has consistently denied the allegations, asserting that Rahul Gandhi holds no citizenship other than Indian. His sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, emphatically stated, “Everyone knows Rahul Gandhi is Indian and was born and raised here.”
Rahul Gandhi himself has dismissed the accusations, calling them a deliberate attempt to tarnish his reputation.
