The Delhi high court on Thursday fixed April 22 for the final hearing of a writ petition challenging the invitation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to form an alternate government in April 1999, on the ground of her foreign origins.
A bench comprising Justice Usha Mehra and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog fixed the date after hearing arguments by senior advocate P N Lekhi.
Arguing on a public interest litigation challenging then president K R Narayanan's invitation to Sonia Gandhi to form the government after the fall of Vajpayee's ministry in 1999, Lekhi said, "For the purpose of holding a high political post or a public office a person's citizenship should be considered in the spirit of the debate in the Constituent Assembly."
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It was of the view that such issues be decided by the Parliament under Article 11 of the Constitution, which gives the state a 'sovereign right' to make laws about citizenship.
"In no country in the world, which has a written Constitution, a situation could be visualised that a foreign born citizen could be permitted to hold a high political office," Lekhi said.
While fixing the case for a final hearing, the court asked Lekhi to submit a synopsis of his argument before the next hearing.
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