Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have to appear in a Delhi court to face allegations that they acquired property worth crores belonging to the National Herald newspaper. Both Sonia and Rahul will have to appear before the trial court on Tuesday.
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Rahul and Sonia can file an appeal in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the high court’s order and exemption from personal appearance in the court.
Sonia and Rahul, along with other accused in the case, have been asked to appear before the trial court tomorrow.
Mr Swamy alleges that the Congress leaders broke the law to grab valuable properties in Delhi, including the office of the National Herald, a newspaper that was set up in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru. He alleged that AJL had received an interest-free loan of Rs 90.25 crore from the Congress and that the party transferred the debt to YIL for Rs 50 lakh.
He argued that the magistrate “applied her mind” while issuing the summons and added that they could have been challenged in the trial court itself instead of coming to the high court and sought that the matter be sent back. He had stated that under the Income Tax act, no political party can indulge in such financial transactions and cannot sign any business contract with a third party.
The Congress legal team is working to stop the court appearance, which, leaders fear, will blunt the party’s attack on the opposition in the middle of the Parliament session.
He said the giving of loans to AJL by the Congress was an action which was in consonance with the objectives of the party and in line with objectives of AJL.
The court also refused the extension of the August 6, 2014 interim order by which the summons were stayed.
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“In December 2010, Young India Ltd, controlled by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi took over the control of Associated Journals Ltd, which controlled the publication of National Heral and it’s Urdu counterpart Quami Awaz”.
