On Monday, Justice Subhash Vidyarthi of the Allahabad High Court stepped aside from a criminal case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The case involves claims that Gandhi possesses citizenship in both India and the United Kingdom, which allegedly breaches Indian regulations.
As reported by the legal news platform Bar and Bench, the judge’s decision followed social media comments from the petitioner that questioned the court’s handling of the matter. These posts referenced the judge’s earlier ruling to postpone the registration of a police report against Gandhi.
In his statement on recusal, Justice Vidyarthi noted that the petitioner’s online messages suggested doubts about the court’s impartiality and a lack of confidence in its proceedings. He added that rather than correcting inaccuracies presented to the court, the petitioner had criticized the court for delays in making the order available.
The petitioner is S Vignesh Shishir, a BJP activist from Karnataka.
Last Friday, the judge had initially indicated that there seemed to be grounds for offenses against Gandhi and permitted the Uttar Pradesh authorities to involve a central investigative body. However, he later decided to review the requirement for issuing a notice to the accused, following the discovery of a full court ruling that mandates such a step before finalizing orders.
Shishir’s filing accuses Gandhi of being a British national. It states that Gandhi established a company called Backops Ltd. in August 2003, and in the company’s annual filings for 2005 and 2006, he declared his nationality as British. The company ceased operations in February 2009.
The petition requests the initiation of legal action against Gandhi under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act, and the Passport Act.
The complaint was first submitted to a special court for MPs and MLAs in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, before being moved to Lucknow at the petitioner’s behest.
