Court allows more evidence in Sonia Gandhi voter list case

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has allowed a complainant to submit additional documents in a case alleging that Congress MP Sonia Gandhi was included in poll rolls before acquiring Indian citizenship. The ACJM court has scheduled the next hearing for Nov 18 after the complainant's counsel sought more time to place further evidence on record. The complaint by advocate Vikas Tripathi alleges that Italian-origin Sonia's name appeared on the voter list of New Delhi parliamentary constituency in 1980, before she acquired Indian citizenship on April 30, 1983. Her name was allegedly deleted in 1982 and reinstated in 1983, also before she became an Indian citizen.

A sessions court had in Sept this year set aside an order by the ACJM refusing to order an FIR against Sonia. Judge Vishal Gogne allowed the appeal by Tripathi saying the ACJM's rejection was based on an unverified photocopy of a record and constituted a "non-speaking (unreasoned)" order. Gogne emphasised that electoral rolls were meant exclusively for citizens and rejected the ACJM court's observations on the roles of the Centre and Election Commission as "improper".