LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court, while hearing the case of Rahul Gandhi's citizenship dispute, asked the petitioner to implead the Union government as a party in the case.
As soon as the hearing began on Thursday, senior advocate SB Pandey, representing the Centre, requested the court not to conduct the hearing in open court as the documents received from the Home Ministry were of a highly confidential nature.
The single Bench, comprising Justice Rajiv Singh, accepted Advocate Pandey’s request and heard the case in his chamber.
After hearing both sides, the court passed an order requiring Home Ministry undersecretary Vivek Mishra and assistant section officer Pranav Rai to appear with the relevant records in the court.
The court reviewed the records and returned them to the undersecretary, permitting petitioner S Vignesh Shishir to implead the Central government in the case.
However, the court rejected the petitioner's request to list the case as ‘part heard’, stating that the matter was still at the admission stage.
The matter was posted on April 6 for the next hearing.
Notably, the petition was filed by S Vignesh Shishir, a BJP worker from Karnataka, challenging the January 28, 2026, order of the Special MP/MLA Court, Lucknow, which dismissed his application for an FIR against Gandhi.
He alleged that Rahul Gandhi held dual citizenship. Shishir claims to possess documents and confidential emails from the UK government indicating that Rahul is also a British national.
The petitioner has demanded the registration of an FIR against Rahul Gandhi and a thorough investigation into the matter.
Notably, the petitioner has levelled serious allegations against him under various sections of the Indian Civil Code, the Passport Act, and the Official Secrets Act.