Gehlot terms Allahabad HC order on Rahul’s British Citizenship ‘surprising & unfortunate’

Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has termed the order of the Allahabad High Court — directing an FIR and probe against the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, over allegations of British citizenship — “surprising and unfortunate”.

Reacting to the order, Gehlot said that the Allahabad High Court had earlier, in July 2025, and the Supreme Court, in 2019, dismissed petitions on the matter.

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In the given situation, an order for a probe by the police or by the CBI is “surprising and unfortunate” and only places an extra burden on the executive wing of the government,” he wrote in a post on ‘X’ on Saturday.

Moreover, the family background and track record of Rahul Gandhi also make the court’s order unfortunate. Gandhi’s father and grandmother laid down their lives for the cause of unity, integrity and harmony in the country. His (maternal) great-grandfather (Nehru) spent around 10 years in jail during the freedom movement and donated all his property to the agitation against British rule.

Rahul Gandhi himself has undertaken many padyatras for the cause of the nation, generating mass awareness for unity, integrity and the spirit of brotherhood among the people, Gehlot said.

A single bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on Friday observed that the complaint against Gandhi required investigation and asked the Uttar Pradesh government to either conduct an investigation by the state police or refer the matter to a central agency.

The direction came on a petition filed by a BJP worker, S Vignesh Shishir, who had challenged a 28 January order of a Special MP/MLA court in Lucknow, on the issue. The lower court had dismissed his plea seeking registration of an FIR against the Congress MP, stating that it was not competent to decide matters related to citizenship.

The complaint was initially filed before a special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli in December last year, from where it was transferred to Lucknow.

Following the dismissal of the plea by the Lucknow court, the petitioner approached the High Court in Lucknow.