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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would look into a request to urgently hear a plea seeking a direction to the Centre and Election Commission “to debar” Congress president Rahul Gandhi “from contesting” the Lok Sabha polls till the Centre decides questions over his citizenship.
The petition filed by Delhi residents Jai Bhagwan Goyal and C P Tyagi was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 | Polling schedule, results date, constituency-wise results, how to check live counting
The duo, who said they were “social and public spirited persons”, pointed out in their petition that as per section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1981, only Indian citizens are entitled to register a political party. It alleged that the Congress chief was contesting polls “despite prima facie evidence of his loss of Indian citizenship” and added that he “has acquired British citizenship voluntarily”.
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The MHA on Tuesday issued a notice to Rahul in connection with a complaint filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy raising questions over his citizenship.
Third summons from Gujarat
A Surat court on Thursday issued summons to Rahul Gandhi in response to a criminal defamation complaint filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi alleging that the Congress chief had called all Modis thieves at a public meeting, thereby defaming 13 crore members of the Modi community in the country.
Chief Judicial Magistrate B H Kapadia issued summons to Rahul, and fixed the next date of hearing on June 7.
In his complaint, the MLA from Surat West referred to the April 13 Congress rally at Kolar in Karnataka, where Rahul purportedly asked, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi… how come they all have Modi as a common surname? How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
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Purnesh Modi’s lawyer Hasmukh Lalwala told The Indian Express, “Rahul Gandhi is an MP. So, the summons will be issued through the Speaker. On the next date for hearing, Rahul or his lawyer will have to be present in court.”
This is the third summons issued to Rahul by courts in Gujarat. On Wednesday, a court in Ahmedabad issued summons to Rahul in response to a criminal defamation suit filed by a BJP worker for calling BJP chief Amit Shah a “murder accused”.
Last month, another magistrate court in Ahmedabad issued summons to Rahul and Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in a criminal defamation suit filed by the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank and its chairman. Amit Shah is a director of the bank.
