Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy informed a Delhi Court on Friday that he was told by an official in Britain about Rahul Gandhi declaring himself as a British citizen..Therefore, he said that under the Indian law, Gandhi's Indian citizenship should be cancelled."I was in Britain recently and there, an official told me that Gandhi has declared himself as a British citizen. Under Indian law, his Indian citizenship should be directly cancelled," he said..Under Indian law, there is currently no scope for dual citizenship..Swamy made the statement while opposing Rahul Gandhi's plea for issuance of a fresh passport.Gandhi surrendered his diplomatic passport after his disqualification as a member of parliament (MP) pursuant to a Gujarat court convicting him in a criminal defamation case for his "all thieves have Modi surname" remark..Swamy underlined that Gandhi had asked for a passport for ten years, the maximum period. He said that there is no fundamental right to a passport and contended that there was no valid reason to grant a passport for ten years.."He has asked for passport valid for ten years, which is maximum. But this is a special case. There is no such thing as a fundamental right to passport. He has no valid reason for the passport for ten years. Permission should be granted after analysing the other correlated matters," he said.Advocate Tarannum Cheema, appearing for Gandhi, said that passports have been issued to people accused of graver offences. "Ten years is given as a matter of routine. Insofar as citizenship part is concerned, firstly the document he has annexed will not amount to criminal proceedings. We have not heard anything from the Ministry since 2019. People who have been involved in graver offences have been granted passports for ten years. It includes 2G and other cases," Cheema said..The Court then asked Swamy if had anything to say on Gandhi's argument that in graver offences, passports were given for ten years.Swamy said that if something wrong has happened in the past, it should not be made a precedent.The Rouse Avenue Court will pronounce its order in the case at 1 pm today.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy informed a Delhi Court on Friday that he was told by an official in Britain about Rahul Gandhi declaring himself as a British citizen..Therefore, he said that under the Indian law, Gandhi's Indian citizenship should be cancelled."I was in Britain recently and there, an official told me that Gandhi has declared himself as a British citizen. Under Indian law, his Indian citizenship should be directly cancelled," he said..Under Indian law, there is currently no scope for dual citizenship..Swamy made the statement while opposing Rahul Gandhi's plea for issuance of a fresh passport.Gandhi surrendered his diplomatic passport after his disqualification as a member of parliament (MP) pursuant to a Gujarat court convicting him in a criminal defamation case for his "all thieves have Modi surname" remark..Swamy underlined that Gandhi had asked for a passport for ten years, the maximum period. He said that there is no fundamental right to a passport and contended that there was no valid reason to grant a passport for ten years.."He has asked for passport valid for ten years, which is maximum. But this is a special case. There is no such thing as a fundamental right to passport. He has no valid reason for the passport for ten years. Permission should be granted after analysing the other correlated matters," he said.Advocate Tarannum Cheema, appearing for Gandhi, said that passports have been issued to people accused of graver offences. "Ten years is given as a matter of routine. Insofar as citizenship part is concerned, firstly the document he has annexed will not amount to criminal proceedings. We have not heard anything from the Ministry since 2019. People who have been involved in graver offences have been granted passports for ten years. It includes 2G and other cases," Cheema said..The Court then asked Swamy if had anything to say on Gandhi's argument that in graver offences, passports were given for ten years.Swamy said that if something wrong has happened in the past, it should not be made a precedent.The Rouse Avenue Court will pronounce its order in the case at 1 pm today.