New Delhi: In what is turning out to be a week for recusals in the country, Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) judge Subhash Vidyarthi on Monday recused himself from a case filed by BJP worker Vignesh Shishir seeking a FIR against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for allegedly holding British citizenship.
After taking note of the various social media posts made by Shishir, a bench of Justice Vidyarthi ordered that the posts implied he was casting aspersions against the court for not signing and uploading an order that was dictated in open court on 17 April this year.
On that day, the High Court had directed an FIR be registered against Gandhi but halted the operation of this order the next day, directing the Uttar Pradesh government to hand over the probe to a central agency. In the 18 April order, however, the court noted that the petitioner had misled the court on the aspect of the issuance of notice, and none of the counsel, including the Deputy Solicitor General, brought this legal requirement to its attention in the earlier hearing.
“The learned Deputy Solicitor General is a designated senior advocate and the court can certainly request for assistance on a question of law. Moreover, when the court had asked the question during hearing, the learned Deputy Solicitor General had not declined to answer the question on the ground that he was not representing a contesting party. He had given a categorical answer that there was no requirement to issue notice to Gandhi,” the court noted.
For instance, one of the posts by the BJP worker that the court referred to in its 20 April order, said, “I urge all general public to raise their voice in what has happened between 17th April 2026 5 pm onwards to 18th April 11 am.”
In that post, Shishir stated that he was fighting the case against Gandhi with all his courage, dedication, passion and a 100 per cent “true heart” on behalf of all Indian citizens. He also urged people to send a complaint to the Chief Justice of India, so that it takes cognisance of a “massive Khela Hobe (conspiracy afoot)” which has transpired between 17 and 18 April this year.
The court also noted that although Shishir had requested Justice Vidyarthi desist from hearing the case, and had even praised the 17 April order while speaking to the Times of India, it did not get influenced by such “appreciation” by litigants. “The courts do not get influenced by the appreciation of litigants. However, the messages quoted above posted after passing of the order dated 17.04.2026 amount to casting aspersions on this court and keeping those in consideration, I find it appropriate to recuse from hearing this case,” the court said in the 20 April order.
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The posts that led to recusal
“The messages indicate that the petitioner has lost faith in this court,” the court said while taking strong exception to this, noting that the messages posted by the petitioner on social media indicated that he was “casting aspersions” against this court on account of it not signing and uploading a 17 April order on its website.
The court also pointed out that another social media post by Shishir urged the people of India to request the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Arun Bhansali to “kindly type and upload the Judgement which is dictated and pronounced in Open Court”, pointing out that the matter related to national security and the larger public interest of every Indian citizen in a case concerning a foreign national sitting in the Lok Sabha for the last 22 years.
Along with this message, the court noted that Shishir had also posted a screenshot of the order passed by this court on 17 April this year.
The court also remarked that, strangely, in yet another message posted by Shishir on social media, he sought the opinion of the public on whether he should request the court to issue notice to the opposite party and order his personal appearance before the court. In doing so, he said that he fully believes in the court and the Supreme Court.
In these circumstances, when Shishir has publicly cast aspersions on the court on social media, the bench said that it did not deem it fit to hear the matter any further.
Shishir’s plea
By way of his petition, Shishir alleged that Gandhi was a citizen of the United Kingdom and had incorporated a company called M/s Backops Ltd, in August 2003, declaring his nationality as British. The BJP worker claimed that Gandhi submitted the company’s annual returns in October 2005 and 2006 listing his nationality as British, but the firm was subsequently dissolved in February 2009.
Following this, he sought registration of an FIR against the former Congress president under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.
On 17 April, the court had directed the registration of an FIR against Gandhi, but the operation of this order was put on pause only a day later, where the court decided to give Gandhi an opportunity to be heard.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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