FIR plea against Sonia as voter: Court reserves order

New Delhi: The Rouse Avenue Court has reserved its order on a petition seeking registration of an FIR against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over alleged irregularities in the voter list of 1980. The plea, filed by petitioner Vikas Tripathi, claims that Gandhi’s name was added to the electoral roll three years before she became an Indian citizen in 1983.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasia reserved the decision but did not issue notices to Gandhi or the Delhi Police at this stage. According to the petition, Sonia Gandhi’s name was included in the voters’ list of the New Delhi Assembly constituency in 1980, despite her not being an Indian citizen at the time. The name was reportedly removed in 1982 and re-entered in 1983 after she obtained Indian citizenship.

The plea further states that Gandhi applied for citizenship in April 1983 and formally became an Indian citizen the same year. It argues that since her name appeared on the electoral roll before that, it suggests that false documents might have been submitted, amounting to a cognizable offence. The petitioner has requested the court to direct the registration of an FIR.

The court has not yet sought responses from Sonia Gandhi or the Delhi Police in connection with the matter.