The Allahabad High Court on Thursday took up a petition questioning Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship and directed that the Union government be made a party to the proceedings. The court also called for senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs to appear with relevant records, indicating the seriousness of the issues raised.
During the hearing before a bench of Justice Rajiv Singh at the Lucknow bench, senior advocate S B Pandey, appearing for the Centre, urged that the matter not be heard in open court, citing the highly confidential nature of documents received from the Home Ministry. Accepting the request, the court conducted the proceedings in chambers.
Following the in-camera hearing, the court directed Under Secretary Vivek Mishra and Assistant Section Officer Pranav Rai from the Home Ministry to appear with the concerned records. After examining the documents, the bench returned them to the Under Secretary.
The court also allowed petitioner S Vignesh Shishir to implead the Centre as a party in the case. However, it declined his request to treat the matter as “part heard,” clarifying that the case is still at the admission stage.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on April 6.
The petition has been filed by Shishir, a Bharatiya Janata Party worker from Karnataka. He has challenged a January 28 order passed by a Special MP-MLA Court in Lucknow, which had dismissed his plea seeking registration of an FIR against Rahul Gandhi, who is currently the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
In his plea, the petitioner has sought directions for registration of an FIR and a detailed investigation, raising serious allegations against Gandhi under various legal provisions.
