Plea Claiming Rahul Gandhi Was British Citizen Dismissed After Petitioner Fails To Provide Proof

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has dismissed as withdrawn a writ petition challenging Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship, observing that the petitioners failed to produce any concrete document to substantiate their allegation that he was a British citizen.

A bench of Justices Shekhar B Saraf and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary passed the order on Monday, which was made available on Wednesday.

This case was separate from the matter in which a Karnataka-based BJP worker has levelled similar allegations regarding Gandhi's citizenship.

The petition in this matter, filed by Ashok Pande and Rajnish Kumar Singh, sought a writ of quo warranto, challenging Gandhi's right to continue as an MP from Raebareli on the ground that he was allegedly not an Indian citizen but a British national.

A writ of quo warranto can be issued when a person holds a public office without meeting the eligibility conditions.

During the hearing, the court was informed that similar issues had been raised by the petitioners in 2015 and 2019. A coordinate bench, while dismissing the 2015 petition, had held that any grievance regarding alleged loss of citizenship had to be raised before the central government under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

In 2019, the petitioner was again given liberty to approach the Centre with a fresh representation.

In the present petition, Singh alleged that Gandhi had incorporated UK-based Backops Limited in 2003 and declared himself its director, major shareholder and a British national.

However, when asked to substantiate the allegation, Singh could not produce any document relating to the company's incorporation, British Registrar of Companies records or any purported declaration by Gandhi claiming British citizenship.

The only document relied upon was an alleged Cambridge University letter concerning the studies of a person named "Raul Vinci". The court observed that the document did not establish the allegations made in the petition.

Singh subsequently sought permission to withdraw the petition, which the bench allowed. The writ petition was accordingly dismissed as withdrawn.