On Monday, the Allahabad High Court provided the Centre with four weeks to make a decision regarding Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship.
The Lucknow bench of the High Court, consisting of Justices AR Masoodi and Ajay Kumar Srivastava, reviewed the petition submitted by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and scheduled April 21 for the next hearing, by which date the Centre must submit a status report regarding the citizenship of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The Centre requested eight weeks to submit the status report.
In his complaint to the Union Home Ministry in 2019, Swamy claimed that Rahul Gandhi had stated he was a British citizen in papers provided to British officials. Swamy contended that this breached the Indian Constitution and the Citizenship Act, essentially equating to possessing a British passport.
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The BJP leader notified the court that the government had sent a show-cause notice to Rahul Gandhi, requesting him to explain his British citizenship. Nevertheless, he remained silent, and the government did not pursue any additional measures.
The court subsequently requested the Centre’s lawyer to inform it about the status of Swamy’s petition and the representation submitted to the ministry.
This occurred months after the government notified the Allahabad High Court that a petition regarding Congress Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi’s alleged dual citizenship was under review.
