New Delhi/IBNS: A Delhi court Friday granted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi permission to get a regular passport for three years after he lost the privileges of being an MP following his disqualification from Parliament.
Gandhi had approached the court for a no-objection certificate (NOC) after he surrendered his diplomatic passport upon his disqualification as an MP.
“I’m partly allowing your application. Not for 10 years, but three years,” the judge told Gandhi’s lawyer.
The former Congress president required the court’s clearance as he is one of the accused in the National Herald case, involving money laundering and misappropriation of funds, filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
The court Wednesday asked Subramanian Swamy, a former BJP MP, to file his reply by Friday to Gandhi’s request seeking the no-objection certificate.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vaibhav Mehta had observed the right to travel is a fundamental right and courts had placed no restrictions on the movement of the Congress leader, who travelled several times without having to obtain permission
Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member after his conviction in a defamation case earlier this year over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname.
The National Herald case is based on a private criminal complaint of Swamy against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others, accusing them of cheating, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust.
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