Citizenship row: SC dismisses plea seeking direction to debar Rahul Gandhi from contesting Lok Sabha polls
Highlights
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition seeking to direct the Election Commission to
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi rejected the contention of the petitioners, who said that in a form along with the annual data of a UK-based company in 2005-06, it was allegedly mentioned that Rahul Gandhi is a British citizen.
"If some company in some form mentions his nationality as British, does he become a British citizen," the bench also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna told the petitioners.
Last week, a petition was filed in the apex court seeking direction to the Centre and the Election Commission to debar the Congress president from contesting the LS election till the issue of his citizenship is decided.
The plea filed in the apex court has said that the petitioners were "dissatisfied" with the "inaction" of the Centre and the poll panel in "deciding the question of voluntary acquisition of British citizenship" by Rahul in spite of a November 2015 communication by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in this regard.
Earlier, the home ministry had served a notice to Rahul asking him to clarify within a fortnight his "factual position" on a complaint questioning his citizenship status.
The petitioners — Jai Bhagwan Goyal and CP Tyagi — have alleged that since prima facie evidence in this regard has been produced before the home ministry and the EC, Rahul should not have been allowed to contest the ongoing Lok Sabha elections from parliamentary constituencies he has decided to — Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and Wayanad in Kerala.
The plea, filed by advocate Barun Kumar Sinha, also sought a direction to the EC to remove Rahul's name from "electoral roll till the decision of the question of acquisition of his British citizenship".
Swamy had in the complaint filed originally in September 2017 followed by a reminder plea submitted this month (April), claimed that Rahul Gandhi was director and secretary of Backops Limited, a company registered in UK in 2003 and based at Winchester, Hampshire. It further said that the annual returns of the said company filed in October 10, 2005 and October 31, 2006, had declared Rahul’s nationality as British. The British nationality of Rahul was also reiterated in the Backops Limited’s dissolution application dated February 17, 2009, it added.
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debar Congress president Rahul Gandhi
from contesting the Lok Sabha polls till the issue of his citizenship is decided. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi rejected the contention of the petitioners, who said that in a form along with the annual data of a UK-based company in 2005-06, it was allegedly mentioned that Rahul Gandhi is a British citizen.
"If some company in some form mentions his nationality as British, does he become a British citizen," the bench also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna told the petitioners.
Last week, a petition was filed in the apex court seeking direction to the Centre and the Election Commission to debar the Congress president from contesting the LS election till the issue of his citizenship is decided.
The plea filed in the apex court has said that the petitioners were "dissatisfied" with the "inaction" of the Centre and the poll panel in "deciding the question of voluntary acquisition of British citizenship" by Rahul in spite of a November 2015 communication by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in this regard.
Earlier, the home ministry had served a notice to Rahul asking him to clarify within a fortnight his "factual position" on a complaint questioning his citizenship status.
The petitioners — Jai Bhagwan Goyal and CP Tyagi — have alleged that since prima facie evidence in this regard has been produced before the home ministry and the EC, Rahul should not have been allowed to contest the ongoing Lok Sabha elections from parliamentary constituencies he has decided to — Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and Wayanad in Kerala.
The plea, filed by advocate Barun Kumar Sinha, also sought a direction to the EC to remove Rahul's name from "electoral roll till the decision of the question of acquisition of his British citizenship".
Swamy had in the complaint filed originally in September 2017 followed by a reminder plea submitted this month (April), claimed that Rahul Gandhi was director and secretary of Backops Limited, a company registered in UK in 2003 and based at Winchester, Hampshire. It further said that the annual returns of the said company filed in October 10, 2005 and October 31, 2006, had declared Rahul’s nationality as British. The British nationality of Rahul was also reiterated in the Backops Limited’s dissolution application dated February 17, 2009, it added.
Read this story in Marathi
In Video:SC rejects plea seeking direction to debar Rahul Gandhi from contesting LS polls
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