Allahabad HC order for FIR against Rahul Gandhi in dual citizenship case surprising, unwarranted: Ashok Gehlot

Jaipur: Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday termed an Allahabad High Court order to file an FIR against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in an alleged dual citizenship case surprising and unwarranted.

“The Allahabad High Court ordering an FIR to probe into baseless allegations of British citizenship against Rahul Gandhi is surprising and amounts to placing an unnecessary burden on the executive by the judiciary,” the former Rajasthan chief minister said.

“Earlier, similar petitions had been dismissed by the Allahabad High Court in July 2025 and by the chief justice of the Supreme Court in 2019. Despite that, ordering an inquiry now is beyond comprehension,” Gehlot said.

On Friday, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court directed the filing of an FIR against Rahul Gandhi based on a petition filed by a BJP worker claiming the Congress leader is a UK citizen and had incorporated a company named M/S Backops Ltd, which was registered in August 2003.

The petitioner, S Vignesh Shishir, a BJP worker from Karnataka, also submitted that Gandhi categorically admitted and voluntarily declared his nationality as British, having a Director Identification ID and London and Hampshire addresses.

The complaint was initially filed before a special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli. However, on the petitioner's request, the high court transferred the case to the MP/MLA court in Lucknow last December, which dismissed the plea on January 28, prompting Shishir to approach the high court.

Gehlot said Gandhi's father (Rajiv Gandhi) and grandmother (Indira Gandhi) sacrificed their lives to keep the country united and intact.

“His great-grandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru) spent 10 years in jail fighting the British and donated his entire property to the freedom struggle. Rahul Gandhi himself undertook a nationwide march to reduce rising tensions in the country and promote love, harmony and brotherhood. Such action against a person like him is extremely unfortunate,” Gehlot said.