Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Monday granted 10 more days to the Union Home Ministry to submit a final report in the matter of dual citizenship of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
A division bench of Justice AR Masoodi and Justice Ajay Kumar Srivastava heard the case on Monday and sought a status report from the Centre. The court said it wishes to know whether Rahul Gandhi is a citizen of India or not. The High Court was hearing a plea that challenges Rahul Gandhi’s eligibility to hold a Lok Sabha seat, saying he is also a citizen of the United Kingdom.
In the plea, petitioner S Vignesh Shishir stated that Rahul Gandhi’s alleged citizenship violates law of the country, which does not permit dual citizenship. During the hearing of the matter, the counsel representing the MHA sought more time to complete the verification process and file the final report. The court accepted the request and extended the deadline and scheduled the next hearing for May 5.
Vignesh has already submitted a detailed representation-cum complaint to the Foreigners Division of Ministry of Home Affairs requesting to cancel Gandhi's Indian citizenship. In his PIL, Vignesh claimed that after the High Court dismissed his earlier PIL plea, he moved a detailed representation before the Ministry of Home Affairs which is still pending. His PIL plea also states that he made detailed enquiries into the issue, got several 'new inputs', and sent emails to the UK government seeking details about Gandhi's citizenship records.
