April 17, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1428

NEW DELHI, April 16: India’s top court accepted a petition by a non-governmental group on Monday seeking to bar Sonia Gandhi, the chief of the ruling Congress party, from holding public office because she was born in Italy, a news report said.

The Supreme Court said the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, or the National Freedom Front, had raised an important constitutional issue in the petition, the Press Trust of India news agency said. The front is a socio-political rights organisation.

The court would seek the views of the federal government and the independent Election Commission before starting regular hearings in the case, PTI said.

Sonia Gandhi married into India’s powerful Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty in the late 1960s. She became a fully-fledged Indian citizen in 1984, but her opponents have been using Italian origins against her. Under Indian laws, any Indian citizen can hold a public office.

On Monday, the front challenged a ruling by the New Delhi High Court that earlier rejected the group’s petition against Gandhi occupying a public office.

“It’s a normal procedure. The court hasn’t given any judgment,” said Satyavrat Chaturvedi, a Congress party spokesman, referring to the Supreme Court.

Sonia refused the prime minister’s job when her Congress party and its allies won elections in May 2004.—AP