Lucknow, April 18 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Friday directed the state government to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) against Rahul Gandhi, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP from Rae Bareli, in connection with a petition regarding his citizenship. The court of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi passed the final order after taking up Karnataka-based Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker S Vignesh Shishir's petition seeking registration of the FIR against Rahul Gandhi due to alleged British citizenship. Senior advocate SB Pandey, the assistant solicitor general of India who represented the Union government in court, said: "The high court has directed to lodge an FIR against Gandhi in the citizenship case." As the matter is related to the citizenship of a foreign country, central agencies may also probe the case, Pandey added. The petitioner had sought quashing of an order passed by the Special MP-MLA court in Lucknow on January 28, which had rejected a request to direct the authorities concerned to register an FIR against Gandhi. Those present in the court on Friday included S Vignesh Shishir, state government advocate VK Singh, assistant solicitor general of India SB Pandey and advocate Anand Dwivedi representing the Union government. State government's stand State government advocate VK Singh, told the court that based on the available documents, a cognizable offence is clearly made out against Rahul Gandhi in this case. The state government is of the view that given gravity of the case based on the evidence presented by the petitioner, investigation and legal action are required, state government counsel added. While rejecting Shishir's plea on January 28, the special MP-MLA Court (Lucknow) had stated that it did not have jurisdiction to decide on the citizenship issue. The petitioner sought registration of an FIR against Rahul Gandhi and a detailed investigation. The complaint was initially filed in the Special MP-MLA Court in Rae Bareli. Later, on the complainant's application, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court transferred the case from Rae Bareli to Lucknow on December 17, 2025. The Lucknow special court dismissed the plea on January 28. The petitioner subsequently challenged this order in the high court. During the hearing of the case, the high court reviewed documents presented by the petitioner related to the alleged British citizenship of Rahul Gandhi. The petitioner claimed that Rahul Gandhi had declared himself a British citizen in a company called 'Backops Limited' in the UK, raising questions about his Indian citizenship. The petitioner sought an FIR against Rahul Gandhi under several provisions, including Sections 3, 5 and 6 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, Sections 12 & 13 of the Passports Act, 1967 and Section 14(B) and 14(C) of Foreigners Act, 1946 at Kotwali police station, Rae Bareli district, Uttar Pradesh....