The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the Union Home Ministry to decide within four weeks on the issue of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship. The ministry had requested eight weeks, with a deadline of April 21, to make its decision, but this request was rejected by the court.

Questions regarding Mr. Gandhi’s citizenship status have been raised intermittently over the years. As a member of Parliament since 2004 and the current Leader of the Opposition, the issue has attracted significant attention.

This particular case stems from a petition filed by a private individual from Karnataka, who has also requested an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The petitioner, Shishir, a BJP worker, claims to have new information about Gandhi’s citizenship. He asserts that he has access to confidential emails supporting his allegation. “We have direct communication from the UK government indicating that Mr. Gandhi is in their citizenship records,” Shishir told NDTV.

He further explained, “We have presented all the documents to the Allahabad High Court… According to Indian laws, dual citizenship is not allowed. Once someone takes the citizenship of another country, their Indian citizenship is automatically canceled.”

In a previous hearing held last November, the bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla had instructed Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey, representing the Home Ministry, to submit directions regarding the action taken on the matter. However, these directions have yet to be filed.

The Home Ministry was given a three-week deadline at that time to respond, which has now been extended to four weeks by the court.