A complaint tied to Sonia Gandhi's appearance on the 1980 electoral rolls — dating from roughly three years before she obtained Indian citizenship in April 1983 — is set to be reheard by the Magistrate Court sitting at Rouse Avenue. A Sessions Court overturned the earlier ruling and directed that the case be sent back down to the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate — the same court that had previously chosen not to order an FIR lodged against Sonia Gandhi.

The case has been placed on the docket of ACJM (MP-MLA cases) Vinod Joshi, with a hearing date set for 28 October. Rouse Avenue Court's Principal District and Sessions Judge routed the matter to that bench through a formal allocation process.

On 21 September, a petition challenging the Magistrate Court's ruling was upheld by the Special Judge handling MP-MLA matters. A lower-court ruling from 2025 — one issued by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate — was overturned on appeal by the Sessions Court. Advocate Vikas Tripathi, acting as complainant, brought a legal challenge against the order.

Granting the petition, Special Judge Vishal Gogne held that the lower court's dismissal of the complaint had rested on an unverified photocopy rather than substantiated evidence, rendering that decision liable to be overturned, and further characterised the earlier ruling as one that offered no reasoning in support of its conclusion. On September 21, the Special Judge indicated that the order in question was open to being overturned.

In ruling on matters of citizenship jurisdiction, the Sessions Court characterised that particular observation as contrary to sound legal reasoning. The bench noted that the contested directive neither addresses nor resolves the question of whether a cognisable offence took place, and went on to state that any observations linking the Central Government and the Election Commission to matters of citizenship fell outside the proper scope of such a ruling, rendering the directive without operative effect on the disclosure of that offence.

The bench further noted that, according to the pleadings before it, Sonia Gandhi's name had been entered into the electoral rolls in 1980. The medal dates to 1982, with her name appended to it the following year. In its ruling, the tribunal held that eligibility for the electoral register extends only to those holding citizenship.

Documents submitted by the complainant showed Sonia Gandhi's name appearing on the voter roll, with her listed address recorded as Safdarjung Road in New Delhi — a detail the court took note of in its observations. In its ruling, the Sessions Court pointed out that the challenged order contains no stated rationale for turning away the complaint.

On that basis, the ruling was found to be open to being overturned. A referral back to the lower court for further proceedings was put forward as the appropriate course of action. In its ruling, the appellate body drew a clear boundary, noting that stepping into the Magistrate Court's adjudicative function lay outside its proper jurisdiction.

The case has been sent back for a fresh determination. A written order will be issued by the bench only after the relevant police officer has appeared to provide a status update and been given an opportunity to address the matter. Vikas Tripathi, identified as a revisionist, put forward the claim that Sonia Gandhi's name appeared on the electoral roll before she had obtained Indian citizenship.