Allahabad High Court Seeks Centre's Response On Rahul Gandhi's UK Citizenship Claim

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday, asked the central government to provide details about the action taken on a petition submitted to the Union Home Ministry. The petition claims that Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition, holds UK citizenship.

A division bench, including Justice AR Masoodi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, passed the order in response to a petition filed by S. Vignesh Shishir from Karnataka. He had requested a CBI investigation into Gandhi's citizenship. The court directed Additional Solicitor General S.B. Pandey to get instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs within three weeks and report back on the next hearing, scheduled for the week starting Dec. 16, 2024.

In July 2024, the court had allowed Shishir to withdraw a similar petition, giving him the option to pursue other legal remedies under the Citizenship Act.

Now, Shishir has again approached the High Court for a decision on his representations. He told the court that after withdrawing his earlier petition, he submitted two new representations to the Home Ministry. These petitions asked for Gandhi’s Indian citizenship to be revoked, based on the claim that he holds British citizenship, and also requested a CBI investigation.

The court emphasised that its current focus was on whether the central government had received the representations and what action, if any, it planned to take.