New Delhi: The Supreme Court dismisses a petition seeking to direct the Election Commission of India to debar Congress President Rahul Gandhi from contesting the Lok Sabha polls after he had “voluntarily acquired British nationality.’ The SC also rejected a plea seeking a probe into Rahul’s citizenship. “We dismiss the petition. There is no merit in the petition,” said CJI Ranjan Gogoi.
On 1 May, the home ministry sent Rahul a notice seeking a response to charges that he held British citizenship.
The Ministry of Home Affairs sought Rahul’s response over a complaint filed by BJP’s Subramanian Swamy in 2017.
Swamy had originally alleged that Rahul’s nationality was registered as British in the annual returns of a firm registered in the United Kingdom.
When the allegations had first been made, the Congress had made public the firm’s certificate of incorporation, which registered Rahul’s nationality as Indian.
Swamy’s complaint was made on the basis of an entry made while filing annual tax returns. It was clarified that the British reference was an inadvertent error.
