New Delhi, August 30: A Delhi court has deferred its order on a revision petition seeking registration of an FIR against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over an allegation concerning her inclusion in an electoral roll before she acquired Indian citizenship.
The Special Judge at Dwarka Court will now pronounce the order on September 21. The petition was filed by advocate Vikas Tripathi, who alleges that Sonia Gandhi’s name appeared on the electoral roll before she became an Indian citizen in 1983.
The original application seeking an FIR had been rejected by a magistrate court. Sonia Gandhi’s legal team has opposed the allegations and argued that the complaint is politically motivated, while the petitioner has sought an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged electoral-roll entry.
The court’s decision on September 21 could therefore attract significant political attention, particularly because the matter involves one of Congress’s most prominent leaders.
Separately, Sonia Gandhi is also at the centre of a political controversy over her forthcoming memoir “Belonging: A Journey of Love”, after Congress leaders alleged that references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RSS and China were the subject of proposed editorial changes. Penguin Random House India has disputed the characterization of the publishing dispute and said fact-checking and editorial recommendations are part of its normal process.
Why it matters:
The electoral-roll case could become another major political flashpoint between the Congress and its opponents, while the memoir controversy has opened a separate debate over political writing and freedom of expression.