New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday (December 6) sought the stand of the Centre on a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy seeking directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs to decide his representation regarding Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s Indian citizenship.
A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the counsel appearing for the Centre to take instructions in the matter.
The counsel representing the Centre sought time from the court for a new counsel to be engaged in the case, submitting that the lawyer who was earlier representing the government recently was designated as a senior advocate.
Need assistance of counsel from the State before passing any order: High Court
The bench said that it needs the assistance of the counsel from the State before it passes any order on the matter and posted the matter for further hearing on January 13.
Petitioner before Allahabad High Court was also present before the bench
During the hearing, Vignesh Shishir, BJP member from Karnataka who has filed a petition before the Allahabad High Court, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship issue, was also present before the court.
What has Swamy submitted?
Swamy wrote a letter to the Centre in August 2019 on alleged violations by Rahul Gandhi in voluntarily disclosing to the British government that he was a citizen of British nationality, amounting to holding a British passport. He has alleged that the Congress leader, being in Indian citizen, had violated Article 9 of the Constitution of India, read with the Indian Citizenship Act, and would cease to be an Indian citizen.
Swamy has claimed that he has made several representations to the Centre inquiring about the status of his complaint regarding the nationality issue of Rahul Gandhi but no action has been taken on his complaint and has sought directions to the Centre to decide his representation at the earliest.
