Twenty months after having rejected his appeal asking for Congress President Sonia Gandhi to be disqualified as an MP for having accepted a title bestowed by the Belgium government in 2006, Delhi High Court today heard Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy seeking review of the court s earlier order.
Mr Swamy, in his review petition, claimed he has found fresh evidence on the opinion of then Election Commission of India to the President of India who too had rejected his plea for disqualification of Mrs Gandhi. He claimed that the ECI’s opinion was vitiated because of the bias of Mr Navin Chawla, one of the three Election Commissioners then. A bench comprising Justices S Murlidhar and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, after hearing arguments by Mr Swamy, listed the matter for further hearing on September 9.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had dismissed his petition on December 16, 2009 for want of merit. Then High Court bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Murlidhar, while dismissing Mr Swamy s petition, had said; we have to see that there is an element of merit in it. From this material, we find it difficult to agree with you. Even in differing opinion of election commissioners (on the issue) we find no merit in it.
During her visit to Belgium in November, 2006; Sonia Gandhi was awarded the Order of Leopold , the second highest civilian award of Belgium, and an honorary doctorate degree. – WebIndia, New Delhi, Sept. 2, 2011
The Order of Leopold in Belgium – Wikipedia
The Order of Leopold (Leopoldsorde in Dutch, Ordre de Léopold in French) is one of the three (current) Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of King Leopold I. It consists of a military, a maritime and a civilian division. The maritime division is only awarded to personnel of the merchant navy, and the military division to military personnel. The decoration was 
established on 11 July 1832 and is awarded for extreme bravery in combat or for meritorious service of immense benefit to the Belgian nation. The Order of Leopold is awarded by Royal Decree.
During the Second World War, the Order of Leopold was bestowed on the several officers of foreign militaries who had helped to liberate Belgium from the occupation of German forces. Famous recipients include George S. Patton, Bernard Montgomery, Dwight Eisenhower, and Wesley Clark. The medal was also granted to Josip Broz Tito in 1970.
Membership can only be granted by his majesty, King Albert II and is reserved to the very most important Belgian nationals and to some distinguished foreign persons who contributed in one way to the Belgian military, the Belgian civil society or the Belgian State. Annually, there are two days when the King normally grants membership, on April 8 (King Albert’s birthday) and on November 15 (Day of the Belgian Dynasty).
No membership can be granted to a person before the age of 42, except in the military division.
Read more at Wikipedia.
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