Shock to Rahul Gandhi: Allahabad High Court orders investigation on the allegation of dual citizenship.

Lucknow, 17 April. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi got a shock from the Allahabad High Court on Friday, when the court ordered an investigation into the allegation against him of having dual citizenship. The Lucknow bench of the High Court has ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to either investigate on its own or hand over the matter to a central agency. This order was given by BJP worker S. Given on the petition of Vignesh Shishir.

Petitioner Shishir had challenged the January 28 decision of the special MP/MLA court of Lucknow. That court had rejected his petition demanding registration of FIR against Rahul Gandhi. The lower court had said that it did not have the authority to decide on issues related to citizenship.

petitioner’s allegation

The petitioner from Karnataka has demanded registration of an FIR against Rahul Gandhi under sections of the Indian Justice Code (BNS), Official Secrets Act, Foreigners Act and Passport Act and a thorough investigation. Initially this complaint was filed in the special MP/MLA court of Rae Bareli. On December 17, 2025, the High Court transferred the case to Lucknow. When the Lucknow court also rejected the petition, the petitioners reached the High Court.

The controversy regarding Rahul’s dual citizenship is quite old.

• Actually, the controversy regarding dual citizenship of Rahul Gandhi is very old and has become a topic of discussion in legal and political circles from time to time. The main reason for this controversy is the allegations of British Citizenship.
• At the root of this controversy is a UK company named Backups Limited. This company was registered in London in 2003. Rahul Gandhi was its director and secretary.
• In 2015, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleged that in the annual returns filed by this company in 2005 and 2006, Rahul Gandhi had declared his citizenship as ‘British’.
• According to Article 9 of the Indian Constitution, if an Indian citizen voluntarily accepts the citizenship of another country, his Indian citizenship automatically ceases.

This issue has come up many times

• In 2015-2016, Subramanian Swamy wrote a letter to PM Modi demanding cancellation of Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship. The Ethics Committee of Parliament had also sought answers from Rahul Gandhi on this.
• During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi asking him to clarify his ‘factual stand’ on this complaint within 15 days.
• In 2019 itself, the Supreme Court had rejected a petition to stop Rahul Gandhi from contesting the elections. The court had said, ‘Just because a company described him as British, it does not mean that he became a British citizen.’

Rahul Gandhi and Congress have completely rejected these allegations.

However, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party have always rejected these allegations outright. Congress argued that writing the citizenship as British in the Company’s documents was merely a ‘typing error’. The party presented the company’s ‘Certificate of Incorporation’, in which Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship was recorded as ‘Indian’.

Rahul Gandhi has called these allegations an attempt to tarnish his image. Once he publicly challenged him and said, ‘I have no other passport to show. If the allegations are true, then put me in jail.