Sonia Gandhi (ANI image)
NEW DELHI: Senior counsel appearing for Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday sought time from a Delhi court to file a reply in a revision petition challenging the inclusion of her name in the electoral rolls. The panel has cited that the records in question are several decades old. The court has now listed the matter for further hearing on February 7.The case is being heard by the Rouse Avenue Court, which had issued notices to the Delhi Police and Sonia Gandhi last month on a revision petition filed by advocate Vikas Tripathi. Tripathi alleged that Gandhi’s name was included in the voter list for 1980–81 before she formally became an Indian citizen. His complaint seeking registration of an FIR was earlier dismissed by an additional chief judicial magistrate.The revision petition challenges that dismissal. During an earlier hearing, Tripathi’s counsel argued that the matter required reconsideration, claiming there were serious irregularities in the manner in which Gandhi’s name appeared in the electoral rolls before she acquired Indian citizenship. He alleged that the name was first entered in 1980, later deleted and then re-entered in 1983 based on an application filed in January that year.After hearing the submissions, Sessions Judge Gogne issued notices to the respondents, including Sonia Gandhi and sought their responses. The magistrate, while rejecting Tripathi’s complaint at the threshold, had held that it was based only on uncertified photocopies of old electoral records and lacked legal merit. The court had also observed that issues relating to citizenship and electoral rolls fall within the jurisdiction of the central government and the Election Commission of India and cannot be decided through a criminal complaint.Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had dismissed the allegations against her mother as false, asserting that Sonia Gandhi voted only after acquiring Indian citizenship. “Do they have any evidence? This is an absolute lie. She voted only after she became a citizen (of India). I don’t know why they are after her, even though she is about to turn 80. She has dedicated her whole life to serving the nation. She should be spared at her age now,” Gandhi said.