Fresh Trouble For Rahul Gandhi In Citizenship Case As Allahabad HC Allows Filing Review Petition

The court also questioned petitioner S Vignesh Shishir, a BJP worker from Karnataka, about the legitimacy of the foreign passport he claimed Rahul Gandhi possessed.

File photo of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

Source : PTI

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday dismissed a fresh public interest litigation (PIL) seeking cancellation of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's citizenship over alleged British citizenship. However, the court allowed the petitioner to file a review petition seeking the reopening of the 2024 PIL.

The petitioner, BJP member S Vignesh Shishir from Karnataka, had filed the fresh petition claiming to present new evidence in the matter. He had also appealed before the court to restrict Rahul Gandhi from undertaking any foreign travel until a decision was made on his petition.

The development took place on May 14 and comes after new information was shared by the UK and other countries regarding Gandhi’s foreign citizenship and passport records.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad HC observed that since a similar plea had already been disposed of on May 5, the petitioner could move a review petition against the order. As a result, the court dismissed the fresh plea as withdrawn.

The court on May 5 disposed of Shishir's original petition, allowing him to explore other legal remedies. "Any representation made by the petitioner to the Central government on the issue could be examined by a competent authority," the bench added.

Prior to this, the High Court had junked two pleas seeking a ban on the Congress MP from travelling abroad until the issue was resolved. The plea claimed that Gandhi is also a citizen of UK, thereby making him ineligible to be a Lok Sabha member. 

In April, the court had expressed dissatisfaction with the status report by the Ministry of Home Affairs to address if Rahul Gandhi is an Indian citizen. The court had granted ten days to the government to present a revised report, asnwering the doubts regarding Gandhi's citizenship.  

(With inputs from news agency PTI.)