The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court dismissed a PIL challenging the recent election of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to the Lok Sabha, which alleged he is a British citizen, after the petitioner requested withdrawal of his plea.
A division bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla, passed the order after petitioner S. Vignesh Shishir, who had presented arguments at some length, sought to withdraw his PIL while retaining the right to approach the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955 to address his grievance.
“Accordingly, the petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to approach the competent authority under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 as far as it may be permissible in law,” the order reads.
The petitioner, claiming to be a farmer from Karnataka and a member of a political party, had filed the PIL seeking the issuance of a writ quo-warranto, used to challenge a person’s right to hold a public office, against Rahul Gandhi. The PIL alleged that Gandhi was a British citizen and thus ineligible to contest elections in India.
Rahul Gandhi, a former Congress president, is a five-time MP and the Leader of Opposition in the current Lok Sabha. He represents the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
