LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered the registration of an FIR against Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in connection with the dual citizenship issue.
The court also said the state government may recommend a probe into the matter by any central agency.
The order came on a petition filed by Karnataka BJP worker S Vignesh Shishir, who accused Rahul Gandhi of holding British citizenship and incorporating a company named M/S Backops Ltd., registered in August 2003.
It was further submitted that Gandhi had allegedly declared his nationality as British and possessed a Director Identification ID linked to London and Hampshire addresses.
Setting aside the lower court’s order, Justice Subhash Vidyarthi said the magistrate did not need to comment on the merits of the allegations at this stage.
Passing the order on Friday, Justice Vidyarthi said that after registration of the FIR, the state government may ask any central agency to investigate the matter.
Counsel for Rahul Gandhi, Pranshu Agarwal, said no notice had been issued to his client and, therefore, there was no representation from his side during Friday’s hearing.
“We will study the judgment and then go for legal remedies,” Agarwal said.
On January 28, 2026, the MP-MLA court had dismissed Vignesh Shishir’s plea, saying no new or concrete evidence regarding citizenship had been presented and no orders had been passed by higher courts.
During the hearing, Justice Vidyarthi directed the Foreigners Division of the Union Home Ministry to submit all relevant documents. The ministry later presented all case-related files before the High Court.
Vignesh Shishir claimed he had submitted documents indicating Rahul Gandhi may have been a voter in the United Kingdom and may have participated in elections there.
The petition sought action against Rahul Gandhi under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Official Secrets Act 1923, the Passport Act 1967 and the Foreigners Act 1946.
The petitioner argued that the matter involved serious issues related to national security and citizenship.
During the hearing, UP government counsel Dr BK Singh represented the state, while SB Pandey appeared for the Centre. Bindeshwari Pandey represented the petitioner.
It may be noted that in 2019, the Supreme Court of India had dismissed a similar petition regarding Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship.
Then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had observed that merely being mentioned as a British citizen in a company document does not establish citizenship. The bench had termed the petition baseless.
The plea had sought directions to the Home Ministry to decide on complaints regarding Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship and also demanded his disqualification from contesting elections.