Allahabad HC seeks Centre's response on representation raising questions about Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship

Rahul Gandhi. File Pic

The Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh has directed the Centre to place before it the decision taken on a representation moved against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his citizenship, reported the PTI.

The court will hear the matter on December 19.

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A petition claiming Rahul Gandhi concealed his British citizenship in contesting the parliamentary election from Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh was filed in the Allahabad High Court this year, as per the PTI.

According to the news agency, a bench of justices AR Masoodi and Subhash Vidyarthi passed the order on a public interest litigation filed by S Vignesh Shishir, a BJP worker from Karnataka.

The petition also demanded that the CBI be ordered to register a case and investigate into the matter, saying Gandhi's dual citizenship is a crime under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Passport Act.

While hearing the PIL on the previous occasion, the court had sought information from the Centre whether it had received the petitioner's representation. In compliance with the order, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey informed the court that the representation has been received by the ministry concerned and is currently under process.

In the PIL, Shishir claimed that he has all the documents and some emails of the British government, which prove that Gandhi is a British citizen and due to this he is ineligible to contest elections in India and cannot hold the post of a Lok Sabha member, the PTI reported.

The petitioner also claimed that he had sent complaints twice to the competent authority regarding Gandhi's dual citizenship but the present petition has been filed as no action was taken by them.

At this, the court had summoned the details of the action taken on the petitioner's representation.

Congress Working Committee to meet on Nov 29

The Congress Working Committee will hold a meeting on November 29 during which it is likely to deliberate on the party's performance in the Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly polls.

The meeting, which will be chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra among others, will review the party's poll debacle in Haryana and Maharashtra.

(with PTI inputs)