The Delhi High Court on Friday directed Union Ministry of Home Affairs to place its stand on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs to decide over the complaint on Rahul Gandhi's British Citizenship. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the proxy counsel for the Union government to take instructions in the matter.
"We want to have the assistance of the counsel from the state before we pass any order," the bench said. The court, which was initially inclined to issue notice on the petition, was informed by the Union's proxy counsel that the lawyer who was earlier representing the government in the matter was designated as a senior advocate. He therefore sought some time for a new counsel to be engaged in the case. The bench subsequently posted the matter on January 13, 2025.
Swamy's plea, filed by advocate Satya Sabharwal, said on August 6, 2019, a letter was sent to the home ministry alleging Gandhi had voluntarily disclosed to the British government that he was a British citizen , amounting to holding a British passport. Swamy claims the Congress leader, being an Indian, had violated Article 9 of the Constitution, read with the Indian Citizenship Act, and would cease to be an Indian citizen.