Delhi court sets aside order refusing FIR against Sonia Gandhi over voter roll inclusion; orders fresh hearing

A Delhi sessions court on Monday set aside a magistrate's refusal to order the registration of an FIR against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over the alleged inclusion of her name in the electoral roll before she became an Indian citizen..Judge Visha Gogne set aside the magistrate court order of September 2025 and directed that the plea will be heard and decided afresh. The court said that the magistrate must pass a reasoned order after hearing the complainant, Vikas Tripathi, and the Delhi Police. In a detailed order pronounced in court, Judge Gogne ruled that the trial court order was perverse and improper. The sessions court said that the magistrate's order was non speaking on the question of disclosure of a cognizable offence against Sonia Gandhi. "It suffers from manifest error in law on account of non-compliance with BNSS provisions, inter alia, not calling for a status report of the hearing submission from the police," the sessions court said. It also observed that the sanctity of the electoral roll is an article of faith for every citizen in a parliamentary democracy and that even the "mightiest" in the land are voters like ordinary citizens. Tampering or fraudlent and inclusion of the name of a non-citizen or false declarations merits a reasoned order, the court said..The plea seeking an FIR against Sonia Gandhi was filed by one Vikas Tripathi. His complaint was initially dismissed on September 11, 2025 by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACMM) Vaibhav Chaurasiya. However, Tripathi then filed a revision plea before the sessions court against the order of the ACMM. On December 9, 2025, the revision court issued notice to Gandhi. Today, it set aside the ACMM's order and directed a fresh consideration of Tripathi's complaint. .It is Tripathi’s case that Gandhi's name was included in the electoral roll of the New Delhi constituency in 1980, even though she became a citizen of India only in April 1983. He further claimed that Gandhi's name was included in the electoral roll in 1980, deleted in 1982, and then included again in 1983. Gandhi refuted the allegations, arguing that the case was “wholly misconceived, frivolous, politically motivated, and an abuse of the process of law.”In a short reply filed before the Court, the veteran Congress leader argued that the complaint against her relied on speculative assumptions, media reports, and “imaginary applications” without producing any foundational documents as proof. "That the complainant has made serious allegations in a reckless manner based on his own imagination or opinion or unwarranted presumption," the reply stated. It was further contended that neither did the complainant place on record copies of alleged applications for voter registration, citizenship-related documents or forged records, nor did he show any attempt to lawfully obtain them.