CBI probe initiated into Rahul’s citizenship issue, Delhi HC told

PTI New Delhi: The Delhi High Court was informed on Wednesday that a CBI probe had been initiated into Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship on a PIL being heard by the Allahabad High Court . When the petitioner, a Karnataka BJP worker, said he had moved a PIL in the Allahabad High Court, a bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said it didn’t want any conflicting orders to be passed. There cannot be two parallel petitions on the same cause of action, said the bench, permitting S Vignesh Shishir to file an affidavit on the relevant developments following his PIL in the Allahabad High Court.

The matter before the Delhi High Court was on a plea by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy who sought directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to decide his representation seeking cancellation of Gandhi’s Indian citizenship. Swamy, in his plea, also sought a direction to the MHA to furnish a status report on the representation filed by him against Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. While Swamy maintained that the matter before the Allahabad High Court had nothing to do with his case and the prayers were totally different, Shishir claimed Swamy’s plea had led to multiplicity and parallel proceedings. The court asked Shishir to file an application for impleadment in the petition before it and listed the matter on December 6.

During the hearing, Shishir submitted his petition was last heard by the Allahabad High Court on October 24 and the matter was under investigation by the CBI. According to Shishir, the matter was before the Allahabad High Court at a “very advanced stage”. “I also appeared before the CBI in this case and tendered my very confidential evidence with regard to this matter. The matter is currently under investigation by the CBI,” he submitted.“Various investigating agencies of the country are conducting the investigation.

I have given my objections to the Delhi High Court registrar through an email,” added Shishir. The bench subsequently remarked that the documents were required to be filed through the court registry and not an email.Swamy differentiated between the two petitions, submitting while Shishir’s plea sought initiation of criminal prosecution, his petition only said Gandhi was not a citizen of India but a “citizen of Britain”.