New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed at the admission stage a writ petition filed by two activists for a direction to the EC to debar the Congress President Rahul Gandhi from contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi and Wayanad constituencies till his citizenship issue is decided.
The two activists submitted that the Representation of the People Act provides for disqualification for registration of a person in an electoral roll who is not a citizen of India.
Since it is apparent from the documents of the Registrar of Companies of England and Wales, he cannot be a voter in electoral rolls.
They said the Election Commission has a responsibility to ensure that a non-citizen is not registered as a voter in the electoral rolls nor allowed to vote in the elections.
The Commission has miserably failed in upholding the law by permitting Rahul Gandhi to file his nominations.
Further they said that Rahul Gandhi has concealed the factum of the British nationality and by concealment of this fact he has been successful in getting elected as a Member of Parliament in the year 2009 and 2014.
The activists have sought a declaration from the court that the Congress President is not competent to contest elections, as he is not a citizen of India and to direct the commission to probe the alleged acquisition of British Citizenship by Rahul Gandhi and debar him his contesting the polls and to remove his name from the electoral rolls.
The returning officer of Amethi had set aside these allegations while accepting Rahul Gandhi's nomination papers. On a complaint filed by the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, Subramanian Swamy, the Home Ministry has also sought response from the Congress President in two weeks.
