A Delhi court on Friday granted a no-objection certificate (NOC) to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for issuance of an “ordinary passport” for three years instead of the normal 10 years, following an objection raised by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
Rahul had surrendered his diplomatic passport upon his disqualification as an MP. Swamy argued that the court should listen the opinion of Union Home Ministry, which issued notice to Rahul on the controversial British citizenship holding issue.
“I’m partly allowing your application. Not for 10 years but three years,” Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Vaibhav Mehta told Rahul’s counsel.
Rahul is scheduled to visit the United States in the first week of June during which he will attend meetings and interact with university students.
He is slated to visit Washington DC, New York and San Francisco. The Congress leader will likely address Indian Americans meet lawmakers at the US Capitol, and interact with members of think tanks, Wall Street executives and university students during his stay.
The magisterial court, in the forenoon, reserved its order on Gandhi’s plea for grant of NOC after hearing submissions of his lawyers and Swamy, who is the complainant in the National Herald case.
Swamy who was assisted by Advocates Satya Sabharwal and Vishesh Kanodia opposed the application, saying it was “devoid of any merit” and insisted the passport should be issued only for one year and renewed every year thereafter. “It is a special case. The passport should not be issued for 10 years. It seems wrong,” he said, and claimed Rahul’s Indian citizenship was under question. He alleged Rahul is a British citizen.
Rahul’s advocate Tarannum Cheema contested Swamy’s claim and said two petitions asking for initiating criminal proceedings against the Congress leader on the citizenship issue have already been dismissed by higher courts.
Swamy has accused Sonia and Rhaul of cheating and misappropriation of funds in acquiring ownership of the now-defunct daily newspaper National Herald.
Swamy objected the issuance of new passport to Rahul, saying that if Rahul is allowed to travel abroad, it may hamper the probe in the National Herald case. Swamy also argued that the court must hear the opinion of Union Home Ministry as it had issued notice to Rahul for illegally holding British citizenship.
The court called Swamy after Rahul filed the petition seeking no-objection for getting ordinary passport. Earlier day Rahul’s counsel said there are no criminal cases pending against him and therefore, he can be granted a no-objection certificate. However, the court opined that Swamy has the right to file a reply to Rahul’s plea.
The Enforcement Directorate is also probing the money laundering angle in National Herald case. Meanwhile, Union Home Ministry in April 2019 issued notice to Rahul for holding a British passport illegally on Swamy’s complaint. Swamy in his complaint to Home Ministry and other agencies produced documents of a British company, where Rahul is a director declaring himself as British citizen with London residential address.
