On Thursday, the Supreme Court officially dismissed the Public interest Litigation (PIL) plea seeking direction to debar Congress party president Rahul Gandhi. The plea stated that Rahul Gandhi should be stopped from contesting the 2019 lok sabha elections from Amethi and Wayanad constituencies till the dilemma of his “acquisition of British citizenship” was decided.
Read more: More than 100 JeM terrorists killed in Balakot airstrike: A report
Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship in question
Few days back, delhi residents Jai Bhagwan Goyal and Chander Prakash Tyagi filed a petition against Rahul Gandhi stating that since he “voluntarily acquired the British citizenship”, the Congress party president should be debarred from contesting the 2019 lok sabha elections. The plea was based on the dismissed PIL filed against Gandhi in December 2015, where He acquired british nationality under the corporation BACKOPS limited.
Read more: Excellent media marketing strategies driving the 2019 election’s campaigns
The petition wanted the Supreme court to “command” the government to inquire and determine the question of Rahul Gandhi’s “dual citizenship”. Also, the petition also sought declaration stating that Gandhi “ is not an Indian citizen and he is incompetent to contest as per the provisions of the Constitution read with the Representation of the People Act, 1951″.
Read more: Ban of indian films in pakistan may boost piracy
Supreme court questions Goyal and Tyagi’s motive
In the court hearing, the bench headed by the chief justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices Sanjiv Khanna and Deepak Gupta, questioned that since the allegations against Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship have been in air for so long, then why did the practitioners waited for 2019 to come to court with their issues.
Dismissing the plea against Gandhi, the chief justice of India further asked the practitioners that “Just because some company named Rahul Gandhi a British citizen, does he become a British citizen?” Further when the practitioner’s lawyers stated that despite the possibility of dual citizenship, Gandhi wanted to contest elections and become India’s Prime Minister. To this, the CJI retorted saying “ it is a reasonably healthy aspiration. Would you mind if the same was offered to you?” In the end, the verdict was announced and the Plea was dismissed.