Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court recently dismissed a petition challenging the citizenship and parliamentary membership of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, after the petitioner failed to produce documentary evidence to support his allegations that he holds British nationality.
A division bench comprising Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary permitted petitioner-in-person Ashok Pandey to withdraw the writ petition on August 31.
The petitioner had alleged that Mr. Gandhi incorporated a UK-based company, M/s Backops Limited, in 2003, and declared himself director and major shareholder, as well as a British national.
The court observed that while the petitioner’s initial arguments appeared “very attractive” and capable of having “far-reaching consequences”, he failed to produce documentary material when asked to substantiate his claims.
No evidence
“….when he was asked as to what the basis of his aforesaid submission was, the petitioner could not show a single document relating to the formation of the company or records from the Registrar of Companies of Britain or any declaration to the effect that the aforesaid Shri Rahul Gandhi @ Raul Vinci has declared himself to be a British Citizen. The only document relied upon by the petitioner-in-person is some alleged letter of confirmation issued by the University of Cambridge certifying the study of one Raul Vinci, which according to this Court does not in any manner prove any of the allegations being contested in the present petition,” the court noted while dismissing the petition.
The bench also took note of previous litigation concerning Mr. Gandhi’s citizenship. Similar petitions have been filed since 2015, according to the proceedings.
Previous coordinate benches had observed that questions relating to termination of Indian citizenship under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, fall within the statutory domain of the Central Government.
Published – September 02, 2026 10:33 pm IST
