HYDERABAD: Describing the TRS MLA Ramesh Chennamaneni’s citizenship row issue as a matter of grave importance, the Telangana High Court, on Wednesday, directed the Central government to write to the German Consulate regarding the status of the petitioner MLA whether he is holding German passport/citizenship or not, and to file an affidavit.
Justice Challa Kodanda Ram passed this order, through video conference, in the petition filed by Chennamaneni challenging the order issued by the Home Ministry declaring him not a citizen of India and that he has obtained the citizenship fraudulently.
On an earlier occasion, the impugned order was suspended by the court for four weeks and later extended until further orders of the court. When the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, advocate V Ravi Kiran Rao, appearing for the complainant, Adi Srinivas, who contested in elections against Ramesh Chennamaneni and lost, submitted that the Home Ministry has concluded that Ramesh has obtained the Indian Citizenship by fraudulent means. He alleged that the petitioner was holding two passports.
Meanwhile, advocate Y Rama Rao, urged the court to post the matter to next year for hearing as many documents were to be submitted and that a senior counsel had also been engaged to argue the case.Replying to a query from the bench, Assistant Solicitor General Rajeshwar Rao said that the petitioner had travelled to Germany in December last year even after claiming that he had surrendered his German citizenship. He sought court direction to the MLA to submit proof regarding his claim of giving up German citizenship.
After hearing the submissions, Justice Kodanda Ram directed the MLA to produce the passports he is holding before the court for perusal, and posted the matter to December 16 for further hearing.