Allahabad HC Seeks Centre's Stance Over Plea Challenging Rahul Gandhi's Indian Citizenship

The Allahabad High Court has sought Centre's stance on a PIL seeking a CBI probe into Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's alleged British Citizenship

The Allahabad High Court asked Centre about the proposed decision on the representation by the petitioner

Source : PTI

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday sought Centre's stance on a PIL filed by a BJP member from Karnataka, seeking a CBI probe into Congress leader and LoP in LokSabha Rahul Gandhi's alleged British Citizenship. The petitioner has sought cancellation of Rahul Gandhi's citizenship.

A bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla directed the ASG Surya Bhan Pandey appearing for the government to obtain instruction from the Home Ministry in the matter, after the petitioner claimed that he had made a detailed representation to the Foreigners Division of the Ministry, the LiveLaw reported.

The Allahabad High Court asked Centre about the proposed decision on the representation by the petitioner filed under the Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, the report said.

The high court noted that a similar plea had been moved earlier by the same petitioner. The earlier plea was withdrawn by the petitioner, with a liberty to approach the competent authority.

Reportedly, the petitioner informed the high court that he has already moved two representations with the Competent Authority in the Union Home Ministry seeking cancellation of Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship. Following this the high court directed the ASG to take instructions on the representation from the home ministry.

The petitioner claims that he has done detailed enquiries into the issue and has got several new inputs. He claims to have accessed confidential emails from the UK Government, which have indicated the UK government having records of Gandhi's citizenship.

The PIL further alleges that in the mail, the UK Government has indicated that it has records of Rahul Gandhi's British Nationality, but refused to disclose details as such 'personal data' is governed by the General Data Protection Regulations as per the UK's Data Protection Act, 2018.

However, the plea states that the British Government can't provide information unless it gets a signed letter of authority from Rahul Gandhi.