Lucknow/ Jaipur, April 18
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the registration of an FIR against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with allegations related to dual citizenship. The order was passed by Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on a petition filed by S Vignesh Shishir, who had challenged a January 28 decision of a special MP MLA court that declined to register a case. The bench also allowed the state government to transfer the investigation to a central agency after the FIR is lodged.
The petitioner, a BJP worker from Karnataka, had sought a detailed probe under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act, and the Passport Act. The complaint was initially filed before a special MP MLA court in Rae Bareli and later transferred to Lucknow in December 2025. The Lucknow court dismissed the plea in January 2026, following which the petitioner approached the high court.
The petitioner has alleged that Rahul Gandhi held British citizenship and was associated with Backops Ltd, a company incorporated in August 2003. It was further claimed that he declared his nationality as British in company documents and mentioned addresses in London and Hampshire. The petition also referred to annual returns filed in October 2005 and October 2006, indicating British nationality, and alleged that he may have been listed as a voter in the United Kingdom. The high court had earlier directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to place all relevant records, including classified documents, before it during the proceedings.
Reacting to the development, Ashok Gehlot criticized the order and questioned the need for a fresh probe. “The Allahabad High Court ordering an FIR to probe into baseless allegations of British citizenship against Rahul Gandhi is surprising and amounts to placing an unnecessary burden on the executive by the judiciary,” he said. He added that similar petitions had been dismissed earlier. “Earlier, similar petitions had been dismissed by the Allahabad High Court in July 2025 and by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2019. Despite that, ordering an inquiry now is beyond comprehension,” Gehlot said.
