Subramanian Swamy Files Petition In Delhi HC To Cancel Rahul Gandhi's Citizenship

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has alleged that Congress leader and LoP Rahul Gandhi has been mentioned as a British citizen in a company, that operated from 2003 to 2009, where he was a director. Swamy has approached Delhi High Court seeking order for Home Ministry to cancel Gandhi's citizenship.

New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking an order for the Home Ministry to decide on the demand to cancel the Indian citizenship of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. The court will hear Swamy's petition next week.

The petition has been filed by advocate Satya Sabharwal on behalf of Swamy. It states that Swamy had written to the Home Ministry in 2019 that a company named Backops Limited was registered in Britain in 2003 and Gandhi was one of its directors. Swamy has claimed in the petition that Gandhi's citizenship is shown as British in the annual income tax returns filed by the company on October 10, 2005 and October 31, 2006.

Also, in the application filed by the company on February 17, 2009 to dissolve itself, Gandhi's nationality has again been mentioned as British. The petition has stated that by doing so it is a violation of Article 9 of the Constitution and the Indian Citizenship Act.

Notably, Article 9 states that if any person voluntarily takes the citizenship of another country, then he cannot remain an Indian citizen.

The Union Home Ministry wrote a letter to Rahul Gandhi on April 29, 2019 asking him to provide clarification in this regard within two weeks. But although more than five years have passed, there is no clarity on the issue, Swamy stated in his petition adding that in such a situation, the court should issue guidelines to the Home Ministry to take a decision in this regard.

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