The Delhi High Court adjourned the hearing on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on Wednesday, which seeks directions for the Union Home Ministry to cancel Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship, based on claims that he has “declared himself a British citizen.”
A bench headed by Chief Justice Manmohan decided not to conduct judicial proceedings in the post-lunch session and has rescheduled the matter for a hearing on November 6. In the meantime, the court requested the petitioner to present a copy of the order passed by the Allahabad High Court concerning a similar issue.
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During a previous hearing, the bench, which also included Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, commented that the same issue should not be adjudicated simultaneously in different forums for the sake of justice. Consequently, they instructed the Union government’s standing counsel to procure a copy of the petition and the case status currently pending before the Allahabad High Court. "We intend to doubly ensure that we do not usurp the other High Court's jurisdiction," the bench stated.
The plea filed by Subramanian Swamy in the Delhi High Court requests that the Union Home Ministry provide a status report on the complaint he filed regarding Gandhi and expedite the decision. In 2019, Swamy had written a letter to the Union Home Ministry detailing violations by Rahul Gandhi, who allegedly disclosed to the UK government that he is a British citizen and holds a British passport.
Swamy contends that Gandhi's declaration implies that he ceases to be an Indian citizen under Article 9 of the Constitution and the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955.
The Union Home Ministry, in its correspondence regarding Swamy’s complaint, noted that a company named Backops Limited was registered in the United Kingdom in 2003, where Gandhi served as a director and secretary. The company’s annual returns filed on 10 October 2005 and 31 October 2006 identified Gandhi's date of birth as 19 June 1970 and declared his nationality as British. Furthermore, in the dissolution application dated 17 February 2009 for the aforementioned company, his nationality was recorded as British.
In his petition, filed through advocate Satya Sabharwal, Swamy stated that he had submitted multiple representations to the Home Ministry seeking updates on his complaint but received no acknowledgment or action. Thus, he is requesting a direction to the Home Ministry to furnish a status report on his complaint against Rahul Gandhi and to expedite its conclusion.
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