Petition Moved In Allahabad High Court Seeks Cancellation Of Rahul Gandhi's Indian Citizenship

A Writ petition has been moved before the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) seeking the cancellation of the Indian Citizenship of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.The plea, moved by practising Advocate Ashok Pandey and Rajnesh Kumar Singh, a dental surgeon, further challenges his Lok Sabha election, seeking a writ of quo warranto against Gandhi, questioning his authority to serve as a Member of Parliament from the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat.The matter is listed for hearing tomorrow before a bench of Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary. The plea claims that Gandhi incorporated a UK-based company, M/S Backops Limited, on 21st August 2003, and that records from the UK Registrar of Companies identify Gandhi as a director and major shareholder of the firm, listing a London address. "…this being the clear-cut case that the candidate Shri. Rahul Gandhi is a British Citizen as per the records available on various websites related to the companies house of the United Kingdom related to the company M/s Backops Limited which the candidate is claiming the ownership in his 2004 affidavit filed before the Returning Officer of Amethi Parliamentary Constituency No 21," the plea states. Interestingly, while the plea seeks cancellation of Gandhi's Indian citizenship, it also states that since Gandhi has voluntarily declared himself as a citizen of Britain, his Indian citizenship stands automatically cancelled by operation of law provided under section 9 of the Indian Citizenship Act. "…Rahul Gandhi is not citizen of Bharat rather he is a citizen of Britain and so he is not qualified and eligible file the nomination and contest the election for the member of parliament…", the plea states. Tracing the history of the issue, the plea further submits that Petitioner no. 1 (Advocate Pandey) had filed a petition in the HC in 2015 claiming that Gandhi lost his Indian citizenship by operation of law in view of his disclosure made in the ITR filed by him in Britain, in which he mentioned his nationality as British. The said plea was dismissed by the HC, noting that u/Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, the authority to determine questions of foreign citizenship acquisition rests exclusively with the Central Government. The plea adds that thereafter, in 2019, petitioner no. 2 (Ranesh K. Singh) moved a petition on similar grounds, which was disposed of with the liberty to the petitioner to file a representation before the Central Government. The petitioners assert that although Petitioner no. 2 filed a representation before the Central Government, no action has been taken to cancel Gandhi's Indian citizenship. The plea further refers to a 2019 complaint filed by the then BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, claiming that Gandhi was a British national, pursuant to which, the MHA had asked Gandhi to provide the "factual position" regarding his citizenship. The plea also refers to a petition moved by a Karnataka BJP Worker, S. Vignesh Shishir, in 2024, through petitioner no. 1 (Advocate Pandey), praying to set aside Gandhi's election as an MP from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. The said petition was, however, dismissed as withdrawn, while allowing the petitioner to approach the competent authority under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, insofar as permissible in law.

Petition Moved In Allahabad High Court Seeks Cancellation Of Rahul Gandhi's Indian Citizenship

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Petition Moved In Allahabad High Court Seeks Cancellation Of Rahul Gandhi's Indian Citizenship

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