NEW DELHI, 20 February (H.S.) : Subramanian Swamy said
that the Center had issued a show-cause notice to Rahul Gandhi seeking
clarification regarding British citizenship. During the hearing in the Delhi
High Court on the demand of cancellation of Indian citizenship of Leader of
Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian
Swamy said that the Central Government had issued a show-cause notice to Rahul
Gandhi seeking clarification regarding his British citizenship. But Rahul
Gandhi has not yet given any answer to it, the next hearing of the case will be
on March 26. During the hearing, the lawyer appearing for the Central
Government said that due to the pending case in the Allahabad High Court, there
is no restriction on the jurisdiction of this court. In this case, parallel
proceedings can be taken in both the High Courts.
Subramanian Swamy himself
had argued that he had written to the Home Ministry in 2019 that Backops
Limited was registered in Britain in 2003 and Rahul Gandhi was one of the
directors of that company. It has been said in the petition that in the annual
income tax returns filed by the company on 10 October 2005 and 31 October 2006 that
Rahul Gandhi's is citizen of Britan.
It has been said in the
petition that in the application filed by the company on February 17, 2009 to
dissolve itself, Rahul Gandhi's citizenship has been mentioned as citizen of Britain.
Acting so is a violation of Article 9 of the Constitution and the Indian
Citizenship Act. On April 29, 2019, the Union Home Ministry had written a
letter to Rahul Gandhi asking him to give an explanation in this regard within
two weeks. But even after more than five years have passed, there is no
clarity. Swamy says, in such a situation, the court should issue guidelines to
the Home Ministry to take a decision in this regard. Article 9 states that if
any person voluntarily takes the citizenship of another country, he cannot
remain a citizen of India.
Hindusthan Samachar / Meenakshi Bhattacharya
