The Supreme court passed a verdict (I don't remember when) stating that Sonia Gandhi is eligible to contest for the highest office in the country even though she is a 'naturalized citizen' and that there is no discrimination as per the constitution between 'naturalized citizens' or otherwise.
Well here is an interesting interpretation of the constitution. The following letter appeared in the Letters to the editor section of The Hindu. Please read and second guess the SC! .
Sir,
Those who support Mr Sonia Gandhi¹s candidature for the Prime Minister's office point out that there is no specific provision in the Constitution which bars a foreigner who has acquired Indian citizenship from holding the post . But Article 102(1)(d) of the Constitution, dealing with the disqualification of persons from becoming members of Parliament, is germane to this question. This Article reads as follows:
"102. Disqualification for membership:(1) A person shall be disqualified from being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament (d) if he is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country, or is under any acknowledgement of allegiance to a foreign state."
Article 9 of the Consttution states:
"No person shall be a citizen of India... or be deemed to be a citizen of India... if he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign state.
This is what is popularly interpreted to mean that India doesnot allow dual citizenship. For losing his citizenship, an Indian has to commit the overt act of acquiring the citizenship of a foreign country. Our Constitution doesnot provide for a voluntary renunciation of citizenship by an Indian for the reason say, he is disgusted with its politicians or with the performance of its cricket team in the World Cup. On the contrary, Article 10 stipulates, "Every person who is or deemed to be a citizen of India under any of the foregoing the provisions of this part shall, subject to the provisions of any law that may be made by Parliament, continue to be such a citizen."
The Constitution of Italy, on the contrary, allows dual citizenship, implying that an Italian citizen can simultaneously be a citizen of another foreign state also. Coversely, the fact that an Italian has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another foreign state does not mean he/she has ceased to be a citizen of Italy.
Therefore, the fact that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi has voluntarily acquired Indian citizenship doesnot, ipso facto imply that she has ceased to be an Italian citizen, unless there is a specific provision in the Italian law for voluntary renunciation of Italian citizenship and she has legally exercised that option.
To prove that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is a full-fledged Indian citizen now, Mr Pranab Mukherjee declared in an interview the other day that she doesnot posess an Italian passport now but has been travelling on an Indian passport since 1984. However, possession of passport is not a necessary condition for citizenship. A mjority of Indians do not possess a passport, and this fact does not detract from their Indian citizenship.
The moot question, therefore, is not whether Mrs.Sonia Gandhi has acquired the citizenship of India, but whether she has ceased to be a citizen of Italy under the Constitution of that country. If the answer to the second question is in the negative, she will come under the prohibition in Article 102 (1)(d) of our Constitution from being a member of Parliament and consequentially, from becoming the Prime Minister.
K.S.Ramakrishnan
Posted by sai at September 3, 2002 05:43 PMHi,
This is very interesting. I am sure that Amma Jayalalitha would be very pleased to find such articles in our Constitution in her support.
I am all for Jayalalitha in this issue. Sonia is absolutely incompetent ... she should never ever become the prime minister of india. What qualifications does she have for that ? Being the wife of late Rajiv Gandhi ? .. not good enough.
It took her more than one decade to apply for Indian citizenship... What exactly was she waiting for ? She had become the "Indian bahu" .. so what was her problem in applying for Indian citizenship ?
I wonder why this article was never debated upon ?
It seems to have come and gone, unnoticed.
How abt sending it to rediff ?
I am the selfsame K.S.Ramakrishnan who had written the letter to The Hindu a couple of years back.
The statement that the Supreme Court of India found the issue in favour of Sonia Gandhi is factually incorrect. The petition stating that Sonia Gandhi cannot contest for Lok Sabha was filed by a private individual. The Supreme Court dismissed it with the limited finding that the petitioner had not established that Sonia Gandhi suffered from any disqualification. It was not a definitive finding after examining the relevant aspects of the law and the facts. The point I had raised in my letter, which is still valid, was not either advanced before the court nor examined by the judges. - KS Ramakrishnan
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