Petitioner Vignesh Shishir, a resident of Karnataka, had initially claimed that Rahul Gandhi had declared himself a British citizen while serving as a director of a UK-based company. Referring to the Election Commission’s rules, he argued that dual citizens are not eligible to contest elections in India. He demanded that Gandhi’s Indian citizenship be cancelled under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.The matter was last heard on 24 March 2025, where a division bench comprising Justice A.R. Masoodi and Justice Ajay Kumar Srivastava directed the state government to file a status report within four weeks. However, the government sought an eight-week extension, and the next hearing was scheduled for 21 April.Earlier, on 19 December 2024, a bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla had instructed ASG Suryabhan Pandey to obtain details from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Ministry subsequently informed the court that a letter had been dispatched to the UK Government seeking clarification on Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship.The Union of India requested additional time, citing an ongoing comprehensive investigation, with a report expected within eight weeks.Notably, the Supreme Court had dismissed a similar petition in 2019. Then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had remarked that if a company listed Rahul Gandhi as a British citizen, it did not, in itself, prove British citizenship.
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