The Allahabad High Court has permitted the withdrawal of a writ petition alleging that Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is a British national and, therefore, ineligible to continue as a Member of Parliament from Rae Bareli.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary dismissed the petition as withdrawn after the petitioners were unable to place on record documentary material substantiating their allegations regarding Gandhi’s purported British citizenship.
The proceedings arose from a petition filed by advocate Ashok Pandey and another, seeking a writ of quo warranto against Gandhi, referred to in the proceedings as “Shri Rahul Gandhi @ Raul Vinci”. The petition proceeded on the assertion that Gandhi was not an Indian citizen but a citizen of Great Britain and consequently could not lawfully occupy the Rae Bareli parliamentary seat.
The Bench noted that the controversy surrounding Gandhi’s alleged foreign citizenship was not new. Similar proceedings had previously reached the High Court in 2015 and 2019. In the earlier litigation, the Court had indicated that the appropriate forum for examining the question of alleged loss of Indian citizenship was the Central Government, having regard to Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The Court also took note of the fact that a representation concerning the issue had been submitted to the Central Government in 2019 and acknowledged by the authorities on June 29 of that year. While the representation remained pending, the petitioners had approached various authorities, including the returning officer during the 2024 General Elections.
The fresh petition was premised, among other things, on the contention that Gandhi had incorporated a company in the United Kingdom. The petitioners referred to M/s Backops Limited, which was incorporated with the British Registrar of Companies in August 2003. They alleged that Gandhi had been associated with the company as a director and major shareholder and had represented himself as a British national.
On that basis, the petitioners questioned how Gandhi could simultaneously claim Indian citizenship and contest elections to Parliament.
The Bench, however, found a crucial evidentiary deficiency in the case. Although the submissions placed before it raised allegations which the petitioners considered significant, the Court observed that the claims were not backed by the primary documentary material necessary to substantiate them.
When the petitioner appearing in person was asked to demonstrate the foundation for the allegations, he was unable to produce records concerning the incorporation of the company, documents from the British Registrar of Companies or any declaration establishing that Gandhi had described himself as a British citizen.
The petitioner relied upon an alleged communication from the University of Cambridge concerning the academic record of a person identified as “Raul Vinci”. The Bench found that the document, by itself, did not establish the allegations concerning Gandhi’s citizenship or demonstrate that he had acquired British nationality.
The Court further noted that substantially similar reliefs had already been sought through multiple writ proceedings. Nevertheless, after the petitioner insisted on advancing his submissions personally, the Bench heard the matter.
With the petitioners unable to substantiate the central allegations through supporting records, petitioner no. 2 sought permission to withdraw the proceedings. The High Court accepted the request and dismissed the writ petition as withdrawn.
Importantly, the order does not amount to a judicial determination on the merits of Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship. Rather, the immediate proceedings came to an end following the petitioners’ request to withdraw the case after they failed to place documentary evidence supporting the allegations before the Court.
The case was registered as Ashok Pandey And Another vs. Sri Rahul Gandhi @ Raul Vinci New Delhi And 2 Others, reported as 2026 LiveLaw (AB) 646.
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