NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy has approached the Delhi high court seeking directions for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to decide on his representation to cancel the Indian citizenship of Congress leader and Lok Sabha leader of opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi.
According to Bar and Bench, Swamy, represented by advocate Satya Sabharwal, had originally written to the MHA in 2019.He alleged that a company named Backops Limited, registered in the United Kingdom in 2003, had Rahul as one of its directors and secretary. The company’s annual returns filed on October 10, 2005, and October 31, 2006, listed Rahul’s nationality as British, claimed Swamy. Moreover, a company’s dissolution application dated February 17, 2009, again mentioned Rahul’s nationality as British.
Swamy claimed that this situation violates Article 9 of the Constitution of India and the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955. Article 9 of the Constitution of India declares that no person shall be a citizen of India or be deemed to be a citizen of India if they have voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign State.
“My Associate Advocate Satya Sabharwal has filed A PIL on the failure of the Home Ministry to prosecute Rahul Gandhi and show cause why he not be stripped of his Indian citizenship. Rahul Gandhi has refused to reply to HM hence the PIL. I also thank Associates Vishesh Kanoria,” wrote Swamy on X.
According to Bar and Bench, Swamy, represented by advocate Satya Sabharwal, had originally written to the MHA in 2019.He alleged that a company named Backops Limited, registered in the United Kingdom in 2003, had Rahul as one of its directors and secretary. The company’s annual returns filed on October 10, 2005, and October 31, 2006, listed Rahul’s nationality as British, claimed Swamy. Moreover, a company’s dissolution application dated February 17, 2009, again mentioned Rahul’s nationality as British.
Swamy claimed that this situation violates Article 9 of the Constitution of India and the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955. Article 9 of the Constitution of India declares that no person shall be a citizen of India or be deemed to be a citizen of India if they have voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign State.
“My Associate Advocate Satya Sabharwal has filed A PIL on the failure of the Home Ministry to prosecute Rahul Gandhi and show cause why he not be stripped of his Indian citizenship. Rahul Gandhi has refused to reply to HM hence the PIL. I also thank Associates Vishesh Kanoria,” wrote Swamy on X.
On April 29, 2019, the MHA wrote to Rahul asking him to ‘intimate the factual position’ regarding this matter within a fortnight.
In May 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea to restrain Rahul from contesting the 2019 General Elections on allegations regarding his supposed British citizenship.
“Some paper says he has British citizenship so he becomes a British citizen? Merely because a company speaks of him as a British citizenship so it means he has British citizenship?” the top court had said, while quashing the plea.