The row over the dual citizenship of TRS leader and Vemulawada MLA Ramesh Chennamaneni, who has been embroiled in a legal battle over the issue since 2013, has flared up once again.
The Telangana High Court today held another hearing on the matter during which it asked the counsel of the petitioner, Chennamaneni's political rival and Congress leader Adi Srinivas, to submit the documents related to the MLA's citizenship in book form.
At this, the MLA's representatives told the HC that he was an Indian citizen, and added that he had gone to Germany as an Indian citizen as well. However, the counsel for the respondent reiterated that Chennamaneni was actually a German citizen. It also stated that the MLA was still living in the same country.
The question of the leader's citizenship had first come to the fore in 2013 when Srinivas had approached the Hyderabad High Court claiming that he 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 order. 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 issued an order cancelling his Indian citizenship, claiming that he had concealed the details of his German citizenship while applying for citizenship in India.
His fate as a public representative continues to hang in the balance, with the state government and the Centre still at loggerheads over his citizenship.
filed in:Courts, High Court, Telangana High Court, Legal, Chennamaneni Ramesh