SC agrees to hear plea to debar Rahul Gandhi from polls

New Delhi, (The Hindu) May 02, 2019 -  
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a plea to direct the Election Commission of India (ECI) to debar Congress president Rahul Gandhi from contesting the Lok Sabha polls and “becoming a Member of Parliament” after he had “voluntarily acquired British nationality.”  

A Bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, was responding to the plea by Delhi residents Jai Bhagwan Goyal and Chander Prakash Tyagi, who said they were “social and public spirited persons” who protected democratic institutions.  

The petition, which has arraigned the Central government, the ECI and Mr. Gandhi in person, said the court should “command” the government to decide the question of voluntary acquisition of British citizenship by Mr. Gandhi and consequently determine his Indian citizenship. It wanted the court to decide whether a person who has voluntarily acquired British citizenship should be allowed to contest from Amethi and Wayanad, and then “fill a seat” in Parliament.  

The petition wanted a declaration that Mr. Gandhi “is not an Indian citizen and he is incompetent to contest as per the provisions of the Constitution...”