ED questions Karnataka BJP worker S Vignesh Shishir who filed petition in HC questioning Rahul Gandhi's citizenship

New Delhi: A Karnataka BJP worker, who had petitioned the Allahabad High Court claiming that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is a British citizen, deposed before the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday where his statement was recorded, official sources said.

S Vignesh Shishir told reporters before entering the office of the federal probe agency in central Delhi that he has been summoned under section 37 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) with regard to the said investigation.

Shishir was asked to submit certain documents and "evidence" he had claimed to have been possessing. He has been asked certain questions and his statement has been recorded under the FEMA, agency sources said.

Under FEMA, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probes complaints related to foreign exchange law violations by individuals and companies.

"I have some concrete evidence, information, documents, records and videos...," Shishir told reporters.

The Congress party declined to comment on the issue.

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 high court.

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 alleged British citizenship.