The controversy surrounding the dual citizenship of TRS leader and Vemulawada MLA Ramesh Chennamaneni, who has been embroiled in a prolonged and bitter legal battle over the issue since 2013, seems to be far from over.
Just today, the Telangana High Court asked the MLA to file the details of his current citizenship status. The court issued these orders after the MLA's counsel informed it that he had "renounced his German citizenship" and that the documents proving this were available for further examination.
Representing the Centre, Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) of India Rajeswar Rao on the other hand maintained that the leader was still a German citizen, and added that the latter had submitted his OCI application which proved this to be true.
Rao also told the HC that the MLA had extended the validity of his German passport till 2023.
It may be noted here that the the Union Home Ministry had cancelled Chennamaneni's Indian citizenship about a year back. However, the MLA had challenged the decision in the HC and had secured a stay order on the cancellation.
The question of his citizenship had first come to the fore in 2013 when his political rival and Congress leader Adi Srinivas had approached the Hyderabad High Court claiming that Chennamaneni held a German passport, prompting the court to annul his election to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
After this, the MLA had approached the Supreme Court regarding the matter and had successfully obtained a stay on the High Court's orders. He had then gone on to win two more elections in 2014 and 2018.
But the issue came back to haunt him again in 2019 when the Union Home Ministry cancelled his Indian citizenship, claiming that he had concealed the details of his German citizenship while applying for citizenship in India.
Last month, the High Court had held
another hearing on the matter during which it had asked the counsel of Adi Srinivas to submit the documents related to the MLA's citizenship in book form.
For now, the MLA's fate as a public representative continues to hang in the balance.