NEW DELHI: A court here on Saturday issued notice to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case on a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy.
Swamy has sought the balance sheet of 2010-2011 of the Congress party and other documents relating to the company, Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) in the case.
Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen asked the Gandhis, party leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI) who are accused in the case, to file a reply to Swamy’s plea and listed the matter for October 4.
The Delhi High Court on July 12 had quashed an order of a trial court summoning the same documents besides others relating to Herald House from the Finance, Urban Development, and Corporate Affairs ministries, the Delhi Development Authority and the Registrar of Companies.
The High Court had observed that the order was passed without giving any notice or opportunity of hearing to the opposite side. It had also directed Swamy to move the trial court again with a similar plea.
Swamy had filed a complaint about “cheating” in the acquisition of AJL, which published the National Herald newspaper, by YI, “a firm in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each own a 38 per cent stake”.
Swamy had accused them of allegedly conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by just paying Rs 50 lakh by which YI obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore which AJL owed to the Congress.
The Delhi High Court in December 2015 dismissed the plea of the Gandhis to quash the summons issued by the trial court on Swamy’s complaint.
IANS