The Delhi high court on Thursday fixed April 22 for the final hearing of a writ petition challenging the invitation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to form an alternate government in April 1999, on the ground of her foreign origins.

A bench comprising Justice Usha Mehra and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog fixed the date after hearing arguments by senior advocate P N Lekhi.

Arguing on a public interest litigation challenging then president K R Narayanan's invitation to Sonia Gandhi to form the government after the fall of Vajpayee's ministry in 1999, Lekhi said, "For the purpose of holding a high political post or a public office a person's citizenship should be considered in the spirit of the debate in the Constituent Assembly."

The PIL claimed that the Constituent Assembly had left open the question of a person who is not a natural citizen being eligible for the high political office.

It was of the view that such issues be decided by the Parliament under Article 11 of the Constitution, which gives the state a 'sovereign right' to make laws about citizenship.

"In no country in the world, which has a written Constitution, a situation could be visualised that a foreign born citizen could be permitted to hold a high political office," Lekhi said.

While fixing the case for a final hearing, the court asked Lekhi to submit a synopsis of his argument before the next hearing.