New Delhi, Sept. 21 -- A Delhi sessions court on Monday ordered a fresh hearing on a complaint seeking registration of an FIR over the alleged inclusion of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's name in the electoral roll before she acquired Indian citizenship in 1983.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne set aside an order of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), which had declined to direct a probe into the allegations. The revision plea was filed by advocate Vikas Tripathi, vice-president of the Central Delhi Court Bar Association at Rouse Avenue courts. Tripathi alleged that Gandhi's name was included in the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency electoral roll in 1980, deleted in 1982 and entered again in 1983, before she acquired citizenship on April 30 that year.
The ACJM had rejected the complaint, citing a lack of specific details supporting allegations of cheating and forgery and questioning the reliance on an uncertified photocopy of the 1980 electoral roll.
Gogne said the magisterial court had failed to examine the sequence of inclusion, deletion and re-entry of Gandhi's name. He said allegations involving fraudulent electoral entries, non-citizens being enrolled and possible use of false documents required a reasoned consideration.
"The sanctity of the electoral roll is an article of faith for every citizen in a parliamentary democracy," Gogne said.
The judge also found a legal error in the ACJM's handling of Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which permits a magistrate to order a police investigation into a cognisable offence.
The matter was remanded for a fresh, reasoned order after hearing the complainant. It will be heard next on September 29.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.