A day after trial started in the Bombay High court seeking to determine whether Supriya Sule, Member of Parliament and daughter of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, owed adherence or allegiance to a foreign country, an application was submitted alleging hindrance in collecting information due to unfair influence.
The applicant, Mrunalini Kakade, claimed that the information sought from sources was not being furnished because of Ms. Sule's father who “is a highly influential person with the government agencies.” The application filed in the court stated that a request was sent to the Councillor officer of the Singapore Consulate in Mumbai and the Emigration and Check-point authorities in Singapore but both claimed to be “unable to accede to the request” of providing information about the citizenship of Ms. Sule. The application also demanded that the Singapore Consulate be asked to produce oral evidence and documents with respect to the case.
The initial petition stated that Ms. Sule's election be declared null and void, as she was a non-Indian after acquiring citizenship of Singapore by buying property there. On Thursday, during cross-examination by Ms. Sule's advocate, Ms. Kakade told the court that she had had no documentary evidence to show that Ms. Sule personally owned immovable properties in a foreign country adding that she had proof to show that Ms. Sule's husband Sadanand owned properties.
Ms. Sule had previously sought dismissal of the petition that demanded her disqualification from election with regard to dispute over her citizenship. The High Court dismissed her application in December 2011 saying that the Central government had decided that Ms. Sule was an Indian citizen and had not acquired citizenship of Singapore, but it (the government) had not decided whether she owed adherence or allegiance to any foreign country. According to Singaporean law, a person has to be a citizen of that country to be able to purchase property.
