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Delhi HC rejects petition on Sonia's citizenship

The Delhi high court today dismissed a public interest petition seeking to cancel the Indian citizenship of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the removal of her name from the electoral rolls.

The PIL filed by the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, a voluntary non-governmental organisation, claimed the government acted improperly, illegally and unconstitutionally in registering Sonia Gandhi as a citizen of India and the concerned district collector failed to hold a proper statutory inquiry after she applied for Indian citizenship.

But the division bench comprising Chief Justice S N Variava and Justice S K Mahajan said Sonia Gandhi was registered as an Indian citizen on April 1, 1983. There was no substance in the petition which contained vague allegations, they said on dismissing it.

''This is a politically motivated petition which has garbled and mixed-up facts. Do not make courts a political platform to fight your battles,'' the judges told the RMM's counsel P N Lekhi.

The judges said Sonia Gandhi had been voting in general elections for the past several years which was a matter of public knowledge. She had been staying in India for over a decade which was more than the period prescribed for becoming an Indian citizen.

They said the counsel failed to place any material on record which proved that Sonia Gandhi had not renounced her Italian citizenship before becoming an Indian citizen.

Lekhi earlier argued that the Indian authorities committed a grave and fatal error and did not take into consideration the relevant provisions of the laws and the constitution of Italy before registering Sonia Gandhi as citizen of India.

They did not conduct any inquiry, acted mechanically and within two days registered her as a citizen, Lekhi said. He added that Sonia Gandhi could have applied for registration as an Indian citizen after her marriage on February 25, 1968 but she retained her nationality.

Sonia Gandhi did not acquire Indian citizenship voluntarily, Lekhi alleged. It was sought under political compulsion when the late prime minister Indira Gandhi wanted to avoid facing the embarrassment of being accused that an alien was staying with her and could be a security risk to the country.

Lekhi said Sonia, her husband Rajiv Gandhi and their two children went to Italy in 1971 when India was at war with Pakistan. He said the authorities should have questioned her for deserting the country at a time of crisis.

Even during the recent Operation Vijay in Kargil, she excused herself when Prime Minister A B Vajpayee called a meeting of all political parties to discuss the military operations. The country was in danger, the enemy was not merely at the doorstep but had actually taken control of part of Indian territory, Lekhi argued.

But Sonia Maino Gandhi, Lekhi said, gave priority to her prior engagements. Primacy to self over the country of adoption shows total lack of allegiance to India, he claimed.

UNI

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