High court dismisses PIL to revoke Kanhaiya Kumar’s citizenship, fines petitioner Rs 25,000
New Delhi: A public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking revocation of citizenship of Kanhaiya Kumar, former president of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students’ union, in connection with the alleged anti-national slogans that he and others raised at a gathering on the central university campus in 2016 has dismissed with cost by the Allahabad high court, Hindustan Times reported on Sunday.
A bench comprising justice SK Gupta and justice Shamim Ahmed passed the order on a PIL petition filed by one Nageshwar Mishra of Varanasi.
The court also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner for casually filing the plea to gain “cheap publicity” and for wasting precious time of the court which was working with “limited strength due to pandemic”.
The court also said the petition was ‘devoid of merit’ and ‘wholly misconceived’ as the petitioner relied on Section 10 of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, which is applicable in cases where citizenship is given by central government to a non-citizen and not to someone who was an Indian citizen by birth.
While declining to pass any direction, the court observed, “Question of deprivation of citizenship cannot arise, merely because he (Kanhaiya Kumar) is facing trial before the court in Delhi on charges of allegedly raising the inflammatory slogans.”
“It must be noted that deprivation of citizenship is a serious aspect as it would affect a person’s right to live in India and it may also result in making the person stateless,” the bench said.
The petitioner had claimed that Kumar allegedly raised anti-national slogans on JNU campus on February 9, 2016 but the Centre had not taken any action against him till date.
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Right to vote under threat, must be made fundamental right: Cong's Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged on Thursday that the right to vote is under threat and the time has come when it should be made a fundamental right for citizens.
Speaking with reporters, Ramesh lashed out at Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, saying the Election Commission (EC) has never been as compromised as it has been under him.
"The rot started under his predecessor. This man is a player and not a neutral observer," the Congress leader said, slamming Kumar.
Kumar is completely compromised and has become a player in elections, he alleged.
"Home Minister Amit Shah had talked about three Ds -- detect, delete and deport. So we want to know how many non-Indian citizens have been detected, how many have been deleted and how many have been deported," Ramesh said, adding that the right to vote is now under threat.
On opposition parties submitting a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha, seeking to move a motion for the CEC's removal, the Congress leader said they will continue to make efforts for Kumar's removal as he is "compromised".
Ramesh also batted for the right to vote to be recognised as a fundamental right.
"I believe that the time has come that the right to vote should be made a fundamental right. It is a statutory right, it is not a fundamental right. Fundamental rights are justiciable," he said.
The former Union minister said this was discussed in the Constituent Assembly, but it was eventually decided that it should be made part of the Constitution.
B R Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram had warned that in the future, governments might try to disenfranchise voters, he added.
"Once and for all, include the right to vote as a fundamental right for Indian citizens," Ramesh asserted.
