Why Allahabad High Court deferred hearing in plea against Rahul Gandhi election

The Allahabad High Court on June 26 deferred the hearing in the public interest litigation (PIL) petition challenging Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha..This was after the Court noted that it had passed a direction in 2016 in a different case as per which any plea by the petitioner's lawyer, advocate Asok Pande, would be entertained only if accompanied by a Demand Draft (DD) of ₹25,000.A Bench of Justices Alok Mathur and Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal observed that the registry has not submitted any report regarding the same. Hence, it called for such a report on whether Pande has complied with the 2016 directive. "This court has perused the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Hindu Personal Law Board Vs. Union of India and Others in Writ Petition No. 8216 (M/B) of 2016, wherein certain directions were given to the Registry of this Court to examine the writ petitions filed at the behest of learned counsel for the petitioner. No such report has been submitted by the Registry of this Court in compliance of the aforesaid judgment and accordingly, Registry is directed to examine the aforesaid judgment of the Division Bench of this Court and submit its report," the Court directed while posting the case for hearing on July 1. .As per the plea by Karnataka resident, one S Vignesh Shishir, Rahul Gandhi is disqualified from holding the office of Member of Parliament (MP) as he is "not a citizen of Bharat, but rather a citizen of Britain."The plea said that Rahul Gandhi should be asked to explain what authority of law he was serving as an MP for the Rae Bareli constituency.In support of his argument that Rahul Gandhi is a foreign citizen, the petitioner referred to documents filed by a UK firm, M/s Backdops Limited, in which Rahul Gandhi was stated to have been a director between 2003 and 2009.In documents filed by this company in 2006, Rahul Gandhi's nationality is shown as British, the plea highlighted.It also contended that Rahul Gandhi cannot continue as an MP since he was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail in 2023 by a Surat trial court in a defamation case.Therefore, Rahul Gandhi is disqualified from holding the office of MP, given the restrictions laid down in Section 8 (3) [disqualification on conviction for certain offences] of the Representation of Peoples Act, the plea stated.The petitioner added that even though the Supreme Court has stayed the conviction, Rahul Gandhi would still be disqualified from holding office as an MP. In this regard, the petitioner pointed out that the Supreme Court did not expressly permit Gandhi to contest in the recently concluded Lok Sabha Elections.When the petition came up for hearing before the High Court, the Bench highlighted the 2016 directive as per which any plea by the petitioner's lawyer, advocate Asok Pande, would be entertained only if accompanied by a DD of ₹25,000.Pandey informed the Court that he has been arguing cases since 2016 without any hindrance.The Court stated that the registry might be unaware of the order.However, Pande maintained that the registry was aware but never objected to him filing petitions before the High Court.The Court then proceeded to seek a report from the registry..The matter will be heard next on July 1.Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey along with advocates Anand Dwivedi and Vijay Vikram Singh appeared for respondent..[Read Order]