Delhi HC to treat Subramanian Swamy's plea on Rahul Gandhi's citizenship as PIL

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Tuesday said that the plea filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy regarding the citizenship of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be treated as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

Subramanian Swamy, in his plea, had requested that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) be directed to take action on his representation, which seeks the cancellation of Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship.

During the hearing, the court clarified, "We have not commented on the merits of the case."

Swamy's plea also called for the MHA to provide a status report on the representation he had submitted against Rahul Gandhi, who is the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.

The petition, filed by advocate Satya Sabharwal, mentioned that Swamy had written to the ministry on August 6, 2019, alleging "violations" by Gandhi.

Specifically, Swamy claimed that Gandhi had "voluntarily disclosed" to the British government that he was a British citizen, which would require holding a British passport.

Swamy argued that, as an Indian citizen, Gandhi's actions violated Article 9 of the Constitution, in conjunction with the Indian Citizenship Act, and that this would result in the loss of his Indian citizenship.

Swamy further stated that he had repeatedly inquired with the ministry regarding the status of his complaint, but no action had been taken, nor had he received any communication on the matter.

(With agency inputs)