NEW DELHI, Apr 18: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Saturday stayed its own order for an FIR against the Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and acknowledged that an order for the registration of an FIR cannot be issued without serving him a prior notice.
On Friday, in an open court session, the High Court had ordered the registration of an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in connection with the alleged dual citizenship case.
The court also observed that after the registration of the FIR, the state government may seek the assistance of a central agency to investigate the matter. The order was passed by a bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on a petition filed by S Vignesh Shishir, who had challenged a January 28, 2026, order of a special MP/MLA court rejecting his plea for an FIR against Gandhi, who is also the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The special court had earlier held that it was not competent to adjudicate on issues related to citizenship. The petitioner, a BJP worker from Karnataka, had sought registration of an FIR and a detailed probe into the matter, levelling allegations against Gandhi under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.
The complaint was initially filed before the special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli. However, on the petitioner’s request, the high court transferred the case to Lucknow on December 17, 2025. The MP/MLA court in Lucknow subsequently dismissed the plea on January 28, 2026, prompting the petitioner to approach the high court, which ordered registration of an FIR on Friday and rescinded it on Saturday.
(Manas Dasgupta)