On Thursday, the Delhi court rejected a complaint seeking action against Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on allegations that her name was entered in the electoral rolls nearly three years prior to acquiring Indian citizenship.
The complaint accused Gandhi of having forged documents to secure her enrolment as a voter. The petitioner’s counsel argued that her name was included in the electoral roll during 1980–81, despite the fact that she had not yet been granted Indian citizenship. They emphasized that the “first threshold to be enrolled as a voter” is citizenship, followed by proof of residence. Senior Advocate Pavan Narang, appearing for the complainant, submitted, “In January 1980, she was not a citizen of India. How then could her name be included in the electoral rolls?”
It was further contended that Gandhi’s name was deleted from the rolls in 1982, only to be added again in 1983, after she became an Indian citizen. Reliance was also placed on the 1985 judgment of the Allahabad High Court in Rakesh Singh v. Sonia Gandhi, which recorded that she had obtained Indian citizenship on April 30, 1983.
The matter was heard by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasiya, who, after hearing arguments and posing queries to the complainant’s counsel, reserved the order earlier this week. On Friday, the court dismissed the plea, declining to take action on the allegations.
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