The Allahabad High Court on Monday set till December 19 for the Ministry of Home Affairs to take a call on admitting a petition challenging Rahul Gandhi’s Indian citizenship. The order was inevitable as passed by Attau Rahman Masoodi and Subhash Vidyarthi bench as a result of S Vignesh Shishir’s petition, which doubted Gandhi’s Indian origin. The petition filed by Shishir stated that Rahul Gandhi possessed citizenship in the United Kingdom and requested that the CBI verify the facts.
The Allahabad High court hearing saw Deputy Solicitor General of India S.B. Pandey tell the three-judge Federal bench that the Ministry of Home Affairs had received the representation and was processing it. The bench put the matter aside with directions to the Ministry to report only on the decision made on the plea at the next hearing on December 19.
Shishir’s petition also cited an SR Bomma filed in 2022 by another person, VSS Sarma, who sought information on Gandhi’s British citizenship. In the previous case, which was permitted to be withdrawn in July, the High Court allowed Shishir the right to raise and avail remedies under the Citizenship Act.
The current case has, therefore, attracted a lot of focus, possibly because the matter relates to Rahul Gandhi, who is a key politician. The decision of the plea is likely to have legal constitutional implications that relate to the citizenship status of individuals in India as well as any legal proceedings. All attention will be on the developments in the Ministry’s response and this case as the December 19 deadline ends.
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