Rahul Gandhi, Disqualified MP, Seeks Ordinary Passport; Court Ruling Today

A Delhi court will today give an order on the application of Rahul Gandhi seeking a no-objection certificate for issuance of an "ordinary passport" after he surrendered his diplomatic passport upon his disqualification as an MP.

Rahul Gandhi is an accused in the National Herald case in which BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is the complainant.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Vaibhav Mehta on Friday morning reserved the order after hearing the arguments, during which Mr Swamy opposed the application, saying it was "devoid of any merit" and that the passport should be issued only for one year and renewed every year.

"It is special case. The passport should not be issued for ten years. It seems wrong," he told the court.

Mr Swamy also contended that Rahul Gandhi's citizenship was under question since he had a British citizenship.

The submission was opposed by Rahul Gandhi's advocate Tarannum Cheema, who claimed that two petitions asking criminal proceedings on citizenship issues has already been dismissed by the higher courts.

She urged the court to allow the passport to be issued for ten years since such relief has been granted by the higher courts in cases with much graver offences and in the present case, not even charges are framed.

The National Herald case is based on a private criminal complaint of Mr Swamy against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others, accusing them of cheating, conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)