ED summons BJP worker who filed petition in HC questioning Rahul Gandhi's citizenship
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has summoned a Karnataka BJP worker who had petitioned the Allahabad High Court claiming that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is a British citizen, official sources said Saturday.
The man, identified as S Vignesh Shishir, has been asked to depose before the federal probe agency on September 9. He has ben directed to appear with all the evidence and documents he has on the case as per the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), Enforcement Directorate (ED) sources said.
A probe into these allegations is underway, they said.
Under FEMA, the ED probes complaints related to foreign exchange law violations by individuals and companies.
When asked about the matter, the Congress party declined to comment.
In a PIL filed before the Allahabad High Court, Shishir had claimed that he has documents and some emails of the British government which prove Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, is a British citizen, and due to that he is ineligible to contest elections in India.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on August 30 had ordered round-the-clock security for Shishir to be provided by the Union government.
A bench of Justices Sangeeta Chandra and B R Singh passed the order on a writ petition filed in this regard by the BJP worker.
In its interim order, the bench observed, "We are prima facie satisfied that the matter required consideration as the petitioner has been pursuing his cases against a very powerful individual and is facing constant threats and has to appear before the investigating officer at police station Kotwali, Raebareli district, in pursuance of notice issued to him."
Shishir had submitted to the HC that on his complaint, moved in June 2024, a probe was underway by the CBI and he claimed that he had appeared before the agency in Delhi on multiple occasions, furnishing evidence of Gandhi's alleged British citizenship.
The matter has been posted for October 9 by the HC.
During a hearing in this case sometime back, the central government had informed the court that the government of India had written to the UK Government seeking details about Gandhi's British citizenship.
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Dense fog disrupts operations at Delhi airport; 228 flights cancelled, 5 diverted
New Delhi (PTI): Dense fog disrupted flight operations at Delhi Airport on Monday, with various airlines cancelling 228 flights and diverting five to nearby airports due to low visibility, an official said.
However, except for Air India, which had in an X post in the morning announced the cancellation of some 40 flights, no other airlines, including crisis-hit IndiGo, shared the numbers of their cancelled or delayed flights.
"As many as 228 flights -- 131 departures and 97 arrivals-- have been cancelled due to low visibility, so far," the airport official said.
In addition to this, five flights have been diverted so far, he said.
Earlier, the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), in a statement, said, "Our on-ground officials are working closely with all stakeholders to assist passengers and provide necessary support across Terminals.
"Low visibility (below minima), due to dense fog, has severely impacted operations at Delhi and other airports across northern India, which is unfortunately beyond our control," IndiGo said in a statement.
As operations are adjusted to prevailing weather conditions, some flights may experience delays, while a few others may be proactively cancelled during the day to prioritise safety and minimise extended waiting at the airport, the airline said in a statement.
IndiGo, however, did not say how many of its flights were cancelled or delayed.
The airline said its teams are "closely monitoring" the situation and coordinating with Delhi airport.
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IndiGo also said it issued advisories to its customers and "proactively" informing them, to minimise inconvenience.
“Poor visibility due to dense fog in Delhi this morning has impacted flight operations for all airlines. We are closely monitoring conditions and will resume operations as soon as it is safe to do so,” Air India said in a post on X in the morning.
It also said that some flights have been cancelled In the interest of safety, and to avoid prolonged uncertainty for the guests, while listing out some 40 arrivals and departures that it had cancelled for the day.
Delhi airport is the country's busiest, handling around 1,300 flight movements daily.
