COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

HC refuses to debar persons of foreign origin from political office

Shireen in Hyderabad

The Andhra Pradesh high court has dismissed a writ petition that sought to debar persons of foreign descent, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, from becoming a member of Parliament, the prime minister or President of India.

A division bench, comprising Justices B Subhashan Reddy and V Vaman Rao, Friday dismissed the public interest writ petition from R Venkateshwar Rao, a Hyderabad resident, challenging the provisions of the Citizenship Act. Rao held that the Act provided for citizenship by registration and citizenship by naturalisation without a corresponding ban on persons of foreign descent to contest for Parliament or hold the highest offices in the country.

The petitioner referred to Sonia Gandhi and said no country could feel safe in the hands of a person of foreign descent. He sought a specific direction to declare that the impugned provisions of the Citizenship Act were unconstitutional with retrospective effect.

Justice Reddy held that the provisions of the Act were not unconstitutional. Several conditions were prescribed for the acquisition of citizenship. The Act was a strict law insofar as the admission of citizenship to foreign nationals was concerned, he said, adding that no material was brought before the court as to how the impugned provisions were unconstitutional.

He said it was for the Indian government to impose any further conditions with regard to the acquisition of citizenship if it felt necessary. The constitutional scheme did not debar a foreign national to apply for Indian citizenship, once the required conditions were complied with.

The court said since her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi in 1968, Sonia has been resident in India. She has also acquired an Indian citizenship.

"Just because she is Italian by birth, it cannot be said that the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India will be in danger if she is permitted to hold the post of prime minister," it noted.

Tell us what you think of this report