New Delhi, 13 March (H.S.): Rouse Avenue Sessions Court deferred a hearing today on a petition challenging a magistrate court's dismissal of a plea seeking FIR registration against Sonia Gandhi over her alleged inclusion in Delhi's voter list in 1980. Special Judge Vishal Gogne scheduled the next hearing for March 30.

Senior counsel for Sonia Gandhi cited personal reasons for inability to argue the case today, prompting the court to fix the future date. The underlying controversy alleges Gandhi's name appeared in the New Delhi Assembly constituency's electoral roll in 1980—when she was not yet an Indian citizen—before removal in 1982 and reinstatement in 1983, coinciding with her citizenship acquisition that year. The magistrate had rejected the initial FIR request for lack of jurisdiction.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar