Lucknow, April 18 -- In a swift legal turn of events, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Saturday stayed its own order from a day earlier, which had directed the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

The court observed that a final decision on the petition, which alleged that Gandhi holds British citizenship, cannot be reached without first granting the Leader of the Opposition an opportunity to be heard.

The stay effectively defers the operation of a judgment dictated in open court on Friday, preventing the FIR from being lodged while the judicial process continues.

The case centres on a petition filed by Vignesh Shishir, a Karnataka-based BJP member, who moved the high co...