SC serves notices on Govt, EC

The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition whether a person of foreign origin could be appointed to hold a public office.

The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition whether a person of foreign origin could be appointed to hold a public office.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan sought response from the Centre on a petition filed by Rashtriya Mukti Morcha RMM, a socio-political organisation, challenging the Delhi High Court judgment dismissing a petition in this regard. During a brief hearing, senior advocate P N Lekhi raised the issue of Congress President Sonia Gandhi being invited in 1999 to form a government by the then President.

The RMM contented that a political party could not be headed by a person who had assumed citizenship by registration. The Bench, which agreed that an important constitutional issue had been raised in the petition, said it would confine itself to the question whether a person who was not born in the country could be appointed to a public office.

Reacting quickly to the notices, the BJP asked for an all-party discussion on the issue. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad repeated the party8217;s position that constitutional positions should only be occupied by people of Indian origin.

In an obvious reference to Sonia Gandhi, he insisted that the framers of the Constitution had never thought that a person of foreign origin would aspire to hold any top constitutional post in the country because of 8220;matrimonial alliance or otherwise in a family8221;.

The apex court8217;s notices 8220;again provides an occasion for all parties to sit across and decide this question politically as well in consensus,8221; he added.

However, the Congress and CPIM saw no trouble for Sonia Gandhi in the wake of the petition. AICC spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi described as 8220;normal legal process8221; the notices issued by the apex court and pointed out that it had neither made any observations nor passed any order. He told the AICC briefing that a High Court and the Supreme Court had already dismissed a similar petition.

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CPIM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said even the Supreme Court had earlier held that as of now, any foreigner who had become an Indian citizen, could hold a constitutional position.

In this, the court had upheld the existing constitutional provisions, Yechury said in reply to questions on the petition. With PTI