CBI seeks Rujira's citizenship details from Home Ministry
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs for the citizenship details of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee's wife Rujira Naroola.
According sources, there were two applications that Rujira had filed for citizenship. In the plea, sources said, Rujira mentioned two different names in the column of father's name -- Niphan and Gursaran Ahuja. The agency has sought details related to her citizenship to take the proceedings further.
Rujira is a Thai national. Earlier in March 2020, the MHA had served her a notice over discrepancies in her PIO card and other documents. The PIO card was issued to her in 2010 from the Indian High Commission in Thailand. She later applied for converting the PIO to Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI).
READ MORE: Rujira Banerjee, a Thai national, is not new to controversies: Here's what happened in 2019
Rujira in her documents for PIO had mentioned Niphan as her father. In one of the documents she submitted for converting IPO to OCI, it was mentioned that her father's name is Gursaran. The document in the question was her marriage certificate which was issued on February 13, 2013.
OCI holders are not citizens of India and enjoy a limited rights even as they reside in India. They are not given the right to vote. They do not have the right to hold the Constitutional posts and right to any public services. They are also barred from investing in farmland or agricultural property.
READ MORE: CBI interrogates TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee's wife Rujira in coal theft case
Earlier today, the CBI grilled Rujira in connection with her involvement in the coal theft case. Sources said that the CBI wants to investigate the allegations that some transactions were made in her bank accounts from main accused Anul Majhi alias Lala, who has been named in the CBI case. The case was registered by the agency in November last year.
