The Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, has dismissed as withdrawn a writ petition seeking a quo warranto against Rahul Gandhi, challenging his right to continue as a Lok Sabha Member from Raebareli on the allegation that he is a British citizen and therefore not an Indian citizen.
A Division Bench of Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary noted that similar petitions concerning Rahul Gandhi’s alleged loss of Indian citizenship had been filed before the Court in 2015, 2019 and 2024. In the 2015 proceedings, the Court had held that any grievance regarding loss of citizenship was to be addressed before the Central Government under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The present petitioners contended that Rahul Gandhi had incorporated a UK-based company, Backops Limited, in 2003 and had allegedly declared himself to be a British national, questioning how he could consequently continue as an Indian citizen and contest elections to the Lok Sabha.
The Court observed that although the submissions initially appeared to have far reaching consequences, the petitioner was unable to produce a single document relating to the alleged incorporation records, UK Registrar of Companies records, or any declaration by Rahul Gandhi stating that he was a British citizen.
The only document relied upon was an alleged confirmation letter from the University of Cambridge concerning the studies of a person named Raul Vinci. The Court held that the document did not establish any of the allegations raised in the petition.
The Court also noted that the issue concerning Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship was already pending before the Central Government. After the petitioner was unable to substantiate the allegations with documentary material, he sought permission to withdraw the petition. The Bench accordingly permitted the withdrawal and dismissed the writ petition as withdrawn, with no order as to costs.
