High Court Probes Citizenship Claims Against Rahul Gandhi

A new inquiry has emerged in the Allahabad High Court regarding the long-standing debate over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship status. This follows a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by S. Vignesh Shishir, a BJP worker from Karnataka, who has questioned Gandhi’s eligibility as a Member of Parliament by claiming that he holds dual citizenship, with alleged records of British nationality. According to the petitioner, the UK government possesses confidential documents indicating that Gandhi may have registered as a British citizen, although these records are legally restricted from public access under the UK’s Data Protection Act of 2018.

The hearing, overseen by Justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla, has placed the Home Ministry on notice. During a recent session, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey confirmed to the court that the ministry had indeed received the representation but required additional time to determine further actions. The petitioner has urged the court to mandate a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, arguing that prior requests to the Home Ministry to verify Gandhi’s citizenship status under the Citizenship Act have not led to any conclusive findings or formal responses.

The case itself revisits similar allegations from 2019, where Gandhi's eligibility was scrutinized after the emergence of documents linking him to a UK-based company, Backops Limited, which allegedly listed his nationality as British. Although Gandhi had dismissed these allegations, they have remained a point of contention among political rivals, particularly within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has questioned his suitability for public office on the grounds of dual citizenship prohibitions outlined in Indian law.

The petitioner's claims are reinforced by communications purportedly obtained from UK officials, who reportedly confirmed holding records of Gandhi’s British nationality but have refused to release detailed information without Gandhi’s direct authorization. These new claims, which the petitioner says are supported by confidential emails from UK government sources, add a layer of complexity to the existing citizenship discourse around the Congress leader.