Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will appear in a Delhi court on December 19 to face allegations that they illegally acquired property worth Rs. 5,000 crore belonging to the National Herald newspaper. Mrs Gandhi told reporters today: “Why should I be upset? As I told my friends, I am Indira Gandhi’s daughter-in-law and I am not scared of anybody.” Asked whether she and her son Rahul were being targeted for political vendetta, the Congress president replied: “I leave it on you to judge.” Yesterday, the Delhi High Court refused to cancel court summons to the two top Congress leaders, saying the allegations “smacked of criminality.” The Gandhis were to appear in a lower court today, but were given exemption and a new date. “We told the court that the accused are extremely keen, ready and willing to appear before the magistrate at the earliest possible date,” said Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing them.
Rallying behind their two top leaders, Congress lawmakers stalled both houses of Parliament alleging political vendetta behind the case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. Congress lawmakers shouted slogans and forced repeated adjournments in both houses. “The government has no role in the case at all. The case started before our government came,” said union minister Venkaiah Naidu. What is referred to as the “National Herald case” is based on Mr Swamy’s allegation of cheating and criminal breach of trust against senior Congress leaders including the Gandhis.
Mr Swamy alleges that the Congress leaders gave Rs. 90 crore as loan from tax exempted money to National Herald and acquired the newspaper illegally for just Rs. 50 lakh with the aim of grabbing its properties in Delhi worth thousands of crores. The National Herald was set up in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister and Rahul Gandhi’s great-grandfather. In 2008, Sonia Gandhi decided to shut down the newspaper, which was dogged by bad management, poor circulation and falling revenue. The Congress maintains that they gave a loan of Rs. 90 crore to the paper because it was nationalistic and it suited the objectives of the party.
