Lucknow, May 14, 2025 — The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the cancellation of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Indian citizenship. The petition was filed by Vignesh Shishir, who has previously filed two similar petitions, both of which were dismissed by the court.
A division bench comprising Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Ajay Kumar Srivastava observed that the petitioner failed to present any credible evidence indicating that Gandhi holds foreign citizenship or a foreign passport.
“Where is the passport? Don’t throw papers at us… Where is the passport in the record?” the bench remarked during the hearing.
The court further noted that the petitioner had already submitted a representation to the Central Government and that the judiciary cannot intervene in the matter unless legally admissible material is brought on record.
Ultimately, the bench permitted Shishir to withdraw the petition with liberty to file a review petition against the earlier order dated May 5.
During the hearing, Shishir argued that he had video evidence allegedly showing Rahul Gandhi entering Vietnam on a British passport. He further claimed that the UK government had sent a copy of the passport to the Indian government. “I have 200 pages of material to prove that Rahul Gandhi is a UK citizen,” he asserted.
However, the court remained unconvinced by these claims and declined to consider the petition.
The order reads: “Petition stands withdrawn with liberty to file a review of the previous order dated 5 May 2025.”
