New Delhi: A petition has been filed against veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court, alleging that her name was included in the electoral rolls three years before she became an Indian citizen.
The petition, filed before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasia under Section 175 (4) of BNSS, seeks directions to the police for investigation into the allegation.
The matter was heard on Friday, before being adjourned for subsequent hearing on September 10.
As per Vikas Tripathi’s petition, Sonia’s name was included in the voters list of the New Delhi constituency in 1980, though she acquired Indian citizenship in 1983.
The petitioner pointed out that Sonia’s name, as well as that of her late brother-in-law Sanjay Gandhi, was deleted from the rolls in 1982.
“The reason for the deletion is nowhere to be found. There can be two reasons: either someone takes the citizenship of another country or files a form 8 (application for correction in particulars), but the prerequisite is that the person has to be a citizen,” the petitioner claimed.
“What documents were given to the Election Commission of India (ECI) when her name got included in 1980?” asked senior advocate Pavan Narang, who appeared for the Tripathi.
Advocate Narang said there was “some forgery” and that a public authority had been “cheated.”
“My limited request is to either direct the police to register an FIR under the appropriate sections. Whether they are made out or not is the domain of the police,” he submitted.
The complaint referred to a 1985 Allahabad High Court judgment in the Rakesh Singh vs Sonia Gandhi case, which examined the issue of her citizenship in the context of an election petition.
At that time, the court held that Sonia became an Indian citizen on April 30, 1983, by registration. The current petition argues that enrolment as a voter prior to that date was illegal.