Delhi court issues notice to Sonia Gandhi on plea for FIR over her voter roll inclusion before becoming citizen

A Delhi court on Tuesday issued notices to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and the Delhi Police on a plea challenging a Magistrate court's refusal to order the registration of a first information report (FIR) against Gandhi for allegedly getting her name included in the electoral roll three years before she became an Indian citizen..Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne heard preliminary submissions by Senior Advocate Pavan Narang on the criminal revision petition and deemed it appropriate to seek the response of Gandhi and the Delhi Police. The Court said that the case will be heard next on January 6, 2026..The criminal revision plea has been filed by one Vikas Tripathi challenging the September 11 order of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACMM) Vaibhav Chaurasiya. 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 said that Gandhi's name was included in the electoral roll in 1980, deleted in 1982, and then included again in 1983. Judge Chaurasia had rejected the petition, stating that the Court cannot embark upon an inquiry as sought by the petitioner.He opined that matters relating to the citizenship of a person are in the exclusive domain of the Central government and that the authority to determine the eligibility of a person to be included in or excluded from the electoral roll rests with the Election Commission of India (ECI). The judge added that holding an inquiry into this matter would result in unwarranted transgression into fields expressly entrusted to constitutional authorities and would be a violation of Article 329 of the Constitution of India. .Tripathi has filed a criminal revision petition challenging the correctness of this ruling.Appearing for Tripathi, Senior Advocate Narang, today told the Court that the fact that Gandhi's name was in the electoral roll of the New Delhi Parliamentary constituency before attaining citizenship means certain documents must have been forged. "Certain documents must have been forged, fabricated and falsified to get the name included in the electoral roll," he said. He added that Tripathi went to the police to look into these aspects, but they did not register an FIR. "I am not saying file the chargesheet, but make an endeavour to investigate the aspect," he argued..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.