After surrendering his diplomatic travel document upon his disqualification as an MP, Rahul Gandhi, an accused in the National Herald case, moved a Delhi court on Tuesday to obtain a no objection certificate in order to get a new "ordinary passport."
The matter was scheduled for hearing on Wednesday by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vaibhav Mehta, who sought the response of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the complainant in the National Herald case.
According to the application, "The applicant ceased to be a Member of Parliament in March 2023 and as such he surrendered his diplomatic passport and is applying for a fresh ordinary passport… By way of the present application, the applicant is seeking permission and no objection from this Court for issuance of fresh ordinary passport to him."
Gandhi and others in the case had been granted bail by the court on December 19, 2015.
In June, the former chief of the Congress will embark on a 10-day trip to the United States, where he will address members of the Indian diaspora at Madison Square Garden and Stanford University.
According to Sam Pitroda, chair of the Indian Overseas Congress, Gandhi is scheduled to visit New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. During his excursion, Gandhi is probably going to address two public gatherings with Indian Americans, meet lawmakers at Capitol Hill, members of think tanks, college students, and Wall Street executives.
"The purpose of his (Gandhi’s) trip is to connect, interact, and begin a new conversation with various individuals, institutions and media, including the Indian diaspora that is growing in numbers in the United States and abroad to promote the shared values and vision of the real democracy with a focus on freedom, inclusion, sustainability, justice, peace and opportunities world over," Pitroda said in a statement last week.
The visit comes just a few months after Gandhi went to the UK. There, he said that Indian democracy was being attacked and that there was a "full-scale assault" on the country's institutions. This caused a storm in India and BJP members protested in Parliament.
The BJP had blamed Gandhi for maligning India on foreign soil and looking for unfamiliar mediations.
Read More | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar meets Kharge, Rahul Gandhi in Delhi to boost opposition unity
Read More | Rahul Gandhi's night out! Congress leader travels in a truck from Ambala to Chandigarh
