Delhi Court Sends Notice to Sonia Gandhi in Electoral Roll Row: What Exactly Is the Case About?

New Delhi: Taking major action on a petition filed against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, a special court of Delhi has issued a notice. The case pertains to the inclusion of her name in the voter list, which according to the petitioner happened at a time when she was not even an Indian citizen.

What is the whole controversy?

Petitioner Vikas Tripathi alleges that Sonia Gandhi's name was added to the voter list of New Delhi parliamentary seat in 1980. Whereas she became a citizen of India in April 1983.
According to him:

• Name added in 1980
• Name removed in 1982
• The name was incorporated again in 1983.

The petitioner's argument is that if her name was in the voter list even before citizenship, then this is possible only if some documents were fake or prepared in a fraudulent manner.

What did the lower court say?

On September 11, 2025, ACJM Vaibhav Chaurasia had rejected the demand for filing an FIR.
The court had said:

• The decision related to citizenship is the jurisdiction of the Central Government.
• It is the right of the Election Commission to include or remove any person from the voter list.
• Conducting such an investigation is beyond the jurisdiction of the court and would amount to interference in constitutional institutions.
• Doing so would be a violation of Article 329.
• Challenging this order, Tripathi has filed a criminal revision petition.

What happened in the special court of Delhi?

Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogane today sought a response from Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Police after hearing the preliminary arguments of senior advocate Pawan Narang. The court said that the next hearing of this case will be on January 6, 2026.

What is the argument of the petitioner?

Senior advocate Narang said in the court that if the name was in the voter list even before citizenship, then some documents must have been fake, fabricated or fraudulently prepared. He said that Tripathi had demanded an investigation from the police, but an FIR was not registered. We are not demanding a charge sheet; we just want the police to start an investigation.

What's next?

The court has directed both Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Police to file replies in this matter. Only after this will the court decide whether the order of the lower court should remain intact or the process of further investigation and FIR should be started in this case. This matter has now once again come into discussion at both political and legal levels.