Review Plea Filed Against Allahabad HC Order Refusing To Entertain PIL Seeking Cancellation Of Rahul Gandhi's Citizenship

A review petition has been filed in the Allahabad High Court challenging its May 2025 order, in which it refused to entertain a fresh PIL plea moved by a BJP Member (S. Vignesh Shishir) seeking the cancellation of Congress leader and LoP in LokSabha Rahul Gandhi's citizenship. For context, the said PIL plea was dismissed as withdrawn as a division bench had pointed out that the petition was 'another round of litigation' and that the petitioner had nothing new or relevant material to seek indulgence of the Court.More about court's order here: 'Another Round Of Litigation': Allahabad HC Allows Withdrawal Of PIL Seeking Cancellation Of Rahul Gandhi's Citizenship In the review plea, it has been asserted that the petitioner (Vignesh Shishir), in the second week of May 2025, received 'confirmation' from the UK Home Office, after over a year of communication, that it had shared all relevant information regarding Gandhi's British citizenship with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India in the last week of April 2025. Based on this, the petitioner claims, he submitted a fresh statutory representation on May 12, 2025, to the MHA's Foreigners Division (Citizenship Wing), urging immediate cancellation of Shri Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship. The review petition, while reiterating the grounds raised in the earlier plea, further submits that Shri Rahul Gandhi is a British citizen who resides in India for less than 182 days in a year, thereby officially maintaining his Non-Resident Indian (NRI) status. Interestingly, the present review petition marks petitioner Shishir's fourth attempt to raise the issue of Shri Rahul Gandhi's citizenship. Of his previous three attempts, two were disposed of without any effective relief, while the third PIL plea was permitted to be withdrawn with liberty to file a review based on new material. The petitioner claims to have obtained such material after the Court's decision in that matter. In the review plea, the petitioner claims that he has filed certain videos of Gandhi travelling to Vietnam and Uzbekistan with a foreign passport.The matter will likely come up for a hearing next week.

Review Plea Filed Against Allahabad HC Order Refusing To Entertain PIL Seeking Cancellation Of Rahul Gandhi's Citizenship

Sparsh Upadhyay

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