Delhi HC grants time to Subramanian Swamy to place docs in Rahul Gandhi's citizenship matter
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted BJP leader Subramanian Swamy time to file a copy of petition pending before the Allahabad High Court on the issue of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's citizenship.
The court was informed by Swamy that he had obtained the copy of the petition and the prayers in that matter are different from that of his pleadings.
A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the petitioner to file the documents in electronic form in compliance with its last order and listed his plea for further hearing on November 6.
The bench was hearing a plea by Swamy seeking directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to decide his representation seeking cancellation of Rahul 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.
At the outset, Swamy submitted that the matter pending before Allahabad High Court has got nothing to do with his case and the prayers are totally different.
To this, the bench said, "okay we will see."
It had earlier granted time to the petitioner to obtain a copy of the petition that has been filed before the Allahabad High Court.
The Delhi High Court had said a petition on a similar issue was also being heard by its Allahabad counterpart and two courts can't deal with the same issue simultaneously.
It had said before proceeding further in the matter, it will be in the interest of justice to know about the pending petition in the Allahabad High Court.
Swamy's plea, filed by advocate Satya Sabharwal, said that on August 6, 2019, the petitioner had written a letter to the ministry alleging that Gandhi had "voluntarily disclosed" to the British government that he was a citizen of British nationality, amounting to holding a British passport.
Earlier, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court asked the Centre whether it had taken any decision on a representation filed under Citizenship Act, 1955 asking it to inquire into the allegations.
It was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) moved by BJP worker from Karnataka, S Vignesh Shishir, claiming that he has done detailed enquiries into the issue of Gandhi being a British citizen and has got several new inputs.
In his plea in the Delhi High Court, Swamy has said that the Congress leader, being an Indian citizen, has violated Article 9 of the Constitution, read with the Indian Citizenship Act, and would cease to be an Indian citizen
He said he has sent many representations to the ministry inquiring about the status of his complaint but neither any action has been taken nor has he been intimated about it.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
