The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the Home Ministry to decide within four weeks on the contentious issue of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's citizenship, dismissing the ministry's request for an eight-week extension.
Concerns about Mr. Gandhi's citizenship have persisted for years. Originally a Lok Sabha MP from 2004 and presently the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Gandhi’s nationality has been questioned in a new petition.
This petition, brought forward by a Karnataka-based BJP worker named Shishir, also seeks an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Shishir claims to possess confidential emails supporting his assertion that Mr. Gandhi is included in the UK’s citizenship records.
"We have direct communication from the UK government," he informed NDTV, citing documents that suggest Mr. Gandhi holds dual citizenship, which is prohibited under Indian law.
Last November, Justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla, in response to the ongoing petition, instructed Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey to file directions about any action taken on this plea. The Home Ministry was initially given three weeks to respond, which remains pending.
Parallel to this, the Delhi High Court is addressing a similar plea filed by former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2019.
Mr. Swamy, who first made these allegations in 2015, argued before Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice TR Gedela that his correspondence on Mr. Gandhi's citizenship went unanswered.
Notably, Mr. Swamy's allegations rest on records from a defunct British company, established in 2003, which purportedly identified Mr. Gandhi as a UK national.
The Congress party has consistently refuted these allegations. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mr. Gandhi's sister, has publicly supported him, stating, "Everyone knows Rahul Gandhi is Indian and was born and raised here..." Rahul Gandhi himself has dismissed these claims as an attempt to tarnish his reputation.
The Delhi High Court has expressed concern about the dual proceedings, as the matter is being heard both in Allahabad and Delhi. The court has questioned the central government's seeming reluctance to act on these petitions.