New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking to direct the Election Commission to disqualify Congress president Rahul Gandhi from contesting the Lok Sabha polls after he had “voluntarily acquired British nationality”.
The plea was filed by two Delhi residents after BJP MP Subramian Swamy had alleged that a UK company’s record shows Gandhi holds British citizenship. Based on the allegation, the home ministry had also issued a notice to Gandhi asking him to clarify his “factual position”.
The Supreme Court had dismissed a similar plea questioning Gandhi’s citizenship in 2015. A bench comprising then Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy had dismissed a plea seeking a direction to CBI to register a case against the Congress president for allegedly declaring himself as a British national before company law authorities there. The bench had questioned the "authenticity of the document" attached with the PIL and the manner in which the papers were procured.
Earlier in April, the returning officer of Amethi — Rahul Gandhi’s constituency — had declared that the Congress president’s nomination papers were valid after a complaint was made that there were several discrepancies in his affidavit, including details about his citizenship.
The citizenship issue had led to a political slugfest, with the BJP calling Gandhi a ‘man of mystery’. BJP leader Sambit Patra had claimed there was no politics involved in the row and the country only wanted a clarification.
Gandhi’s sister and Congress’ eastern UP incharge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had rubbished the claims, saying everyone knew he was born and raised in India. Senior leader Randeep Surjewala had also said: “The entire world knows Rahul Gandhi is an Indian citizen by birth. Modi ji has no answer for unemployment, Modi ji has no answer for agrarian distress and black money, that's why he's resorting to fake narrative through his government's notices to divert attention.”
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