The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has temporarily stayed its earlier oral direction permitting the Uttar Pradesh Police to register an FIR against Congress MP Rahul in connection with a complaint alleging dual citizenship.
The allegation, first raised in 2019, claims Rahul held citizenship in both India and the United Kingdom. It cites annual returns filed in 2005–06 for a London-based company, Backops Limited, where he was listed as a director, as having disclosed UK citizenship.
BJP functionary Vignesh Shishir from Karnataka had moved the High Court seeking action, including disqualification. When the petition came up for hearing recently, the bench had orally observed that an FIR could be registered and that the case could be handed over to central agencies such as the CBI.
In its latest order, the court said it needs to examine, as a matter of law, whether the accused must be served a proper notice in advance. It noted that during the hearing, no lawyer brought the legal requirement of prior notice to the court’s attention.
The bench said the issue will be taken up again on April 20 after following due legal procedure. The stay provides interim relief to Rahul for now.
