Delhi: A Delhi court has agreed to reopen scrutiny into a decades-old allegation involving Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, after a petitioner claimed her name appeared in the electoral rolls years before she became an Indian citizen.
On Tuesday, Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Courts issued notices to both Sonia Gandhi and the Delhi Police, stating that a criminal revision plea warrants judicial consideration. The petition challenges an earlier order that refused to direct the registration of an FIR in the matter.
The revision plea, filed by complainant Vikas Tripathi, will now be taken up for detailed hearing on January 6, 2026.
Tripathi’s petition argues that Sonia Gandhi’s name was allegedly included in the New Delhi Assembly constituency’s voter roll in 1980, even though she officially acquired Indian citizenship in April 1983. According to the plea, her name was removed in 1982, only to be added again in 1983 after citizenship was granted.
Represented by senior advocate Pavan Narang, Tripathi told the court that such an early inclusion could not have taken place “without forged or falsified documents,” asserting that the alleged act amounts to a cognisable offence. Narang argued that the matter deserved a thorough investigation and that the earlier court had “incorrectly shielded” the issue from judicial scrutiny.
The case stems from a September 11 order by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasia, who had dismissed the complaint, holding that directing an FIR would require the judiciary to enter areas barred by Article 329 of the Constitution. The magistrate stated that inquiries touching upon electoral rolls fall within the exclusive purview of constitutional authorities, and courts cannot interfere outside the framework of election petitions.
Tripathi has insisted that the inclusion of a non-citizen in official electoral lists undermines the sanctity of the voting process and constitutes “electoral fraud at the very threshold.”
