The Allahabad High Court on Friday directed the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in connection with a case alleging that he is a British national holding a UK passport.

Single-judge Justice Subhash Vidhyarthi passed the order.

The Court found a prima facie case against Gandhi and gave liberty to the State to refer the case to the Central government for its investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The complaint filed by S Vignesh Shishir from Karnataka sought registration of a criminal case against Gandhi under various provisions of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Official Secrets Act, Passport Act and the Foreigners Act.

His claim was that Gandhi was the Director of the UK-based company Backops Ltd and in its records, he had declared his nationality as British. 

After the police failed to register a case on the complaint, Shishir moved the trial court. The complainant had earlier also asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to cancel Gandhi's Indian citizenship on the on the alleged ground that he has already acquired the British citizenship.  

In August, the High Court directed the Union government to provide personal security officer (PSO) of Central Armed Police Forces to Shishir for his round-the-clock security.