Letter to President of India 9 11 12
November 9, 2012.
Mr. Pranab Mukherjee,
President of India,
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi.
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing this letter by way of providing as yet not formally confirmed information and hence not as yet evidence.
Mr. Rahul Gandhi, MP was born at a time when his mother Ms. Sonia Gandhi was an Italian citizen. {She became an Indian citizen vide Section 5 of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1983}.
According to Italian law at that time, any person born to an Italian citizen mother is deemed to be an Italian citizen unless a formal renunciation of Italian citizenship is made by the child upon becoming an adult. At the time of Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s birth, his mother had informed the Italian Embassy of the same which the Embassy then forwarded it to the Interior Ministry in Rome, Italy for recording in their Citizen’s Register.
Therefore, my information is that Mr. Gandhi’s name was entered under whatever name that was communicated by the Italian Embassy, in the Citizenship Register of Italy.
I have not been able to verify as yet whether upon becoming an adult, Mr. Gandhi formally renounced Italian citizenship or has continued as yet for some obscure reason, as a citizen of Italy.
Only a formal request from the Government of India can clarify this position. The former Prime Minister Mr. Narasimha Rao had in a casual conversation told me that he had been informed that Mr. Gandhi was still a citizen of Italy. But this is hearsay and not yet confirmed evidence.
In my view it will be fair and legally appropriate in your position as President of India and custodian of the Constitution that you make a formal request through our Government to the Government of Italy to provide a copy of the file relating not only to Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship but also of Ms. Sonia Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka so that this controversy regarding Ms Sonia Gandhi and her two children’s citizenship status in Italy, is set at rest.
Yours sincerely,
( SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY )
November 9, 2012.
Mr. Pranab Mukherjee,
President of India,
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi.
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing this letter by way of providing as yet not formally confirmed information and hence not as yet evidence.
Mr. Rahul Gandhi, MP was born at a time when his mother Ms. Sonia Gandhi was an Italian citizen. {She became an Indian citizen vide Section 5 of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1983}.
According to Italian law at that time, any person born to an Italian citizen mother is deemed to be an Italian citizen unless a formal renunciation of Italian citizenship is made by the child upon becoming an adult. At the time of Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s birth, his mother had informed the Italian Embassy of the same which the Embassy then forwarded it to the Interior Ministry in Rome, Italy for recording in their Citizen’s Register.
Therefore, my information is that Mr. Gandhi’s name was entered under whatever name that was communicated by the Italian Embassy, in the Citizenship Register of Italy.
I have not been able to verify as yet whether upon becoming an adult, Mr. Gandhi formally renounced Italian citizenship or has continued as yet for some obscure reason, as a citizen of Italy.
Only a formal request from the Government of India can clarify this position. The former Prime Minister Mr. Narasimha Rao had in a casual conversation told me that he had been informed that Mr. Gandhi was still a citizen of Italy. But this is hearsay and not yet confirmed evidence.
In my view it will be fair and legally appropriate in your position as President of India and custodian of the Constitution that you make a formal request through our Government to the Government of Italy to provide a copy of the file relating not only to Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship but also of Ms. Sonia Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka so that this controversy regarding Ms Sonia Gandhi and her two children’s citizenship status in Italy, is set at rest.
Yours sincerely,
( SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY )
