The Telangana High Court on Monday dismissed former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Chennamaneni Ramesh's petition challenging the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)'s decision to revoke his Indian citizenship..Justice B Vijaysen Reddy also imposed a fine of ₹30 lakh on Ramesh, a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader, for suppressing facts related to his German citizenship, The Hindu reported. Out of the total amount, ₹25 lakh was ordered to be paid to Congress MLA Adi Srinivas, who had questioned Ramesh's citizenship. The remaining ₹5 lakh should be paid to the Telangana State Legal Services Authority.While a copy of the judgment was not immediately available, the newspaper reported the judge holding that Ramesh had failed to furnish any documents from Germany to confirm that he had ceased to be a citizen of that country..In 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs revoked Ramesh's Indian citizenship, leading to the present challenge before the High Court. In November 2019, the High Court granted interim relief to Ramesh by temporarily suspending the revocation of his citizenship. The stay continued to remain in his operation till pronouncement of the final decision on December 9. After hearing the arguments, the High Court had reserved its judgment in October this year..According to media reports, Ramesh, who was initially associated with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), won the State assembly elections from Vemulawada constituency four times between 2009 and 2023. Ramesh had left India during 1990s and procured German citizenship. He then returned to India in 2007 and a year later applied for citizenship here. His citizenship was restored on his request, only to be challenged by Srinivas who alleged that his political rival obtained citizenship by making a false representation.
