The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the revocation of Indian citizenship of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, marking the third such attempt by petitioner Vignesh Shishir.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Ajai Kumar Srivastava observed that the plea lacked concrete evidence and did not present any material on record to support the claim that Gandhi holds foreign citizenship.
“Where is that passport… don’t fly paper at us… where is that passport on record?” the Bench remarked, expressing dissatisfaction with the petitioner’s arguments.
The Court noted that the petitioner had already made a representation to the Central government on the matter. It clarified that judicial intervention cannot be made in the absence of legally admissible and justified evidence.
During the hearing, Shishir alleged that Gandhi had used a British passport to enter Vietnam and claimed that the UK government had sent the said passport to Indian authorities. “I have 200 pages to show Gandhi is a citizen of the UK,” he asserted.
However, the Bench remained unconvinced and reiterated that mere claims, without substantiating documentation, cannot form the basis of judicial action.
Ultimately, the Court allowed Shishir to withdraw the petition, granting him liberty to file a review against the earlier order dated May 5, which had similarly dismissed his plea.
“Dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to file a review of the previous order (May 5),” the Bench stated in its order.
This marks the third time the High Court has declined to entertain petitions challenging Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship, citing insufficient legal grounds.
