Sonia, Rahul Gandhi Move Supreme Court Against Delhi HC Order

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi today moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order in National Herald case.

Along with Sonia and Rahul, five other accused -Suman Dubey, Moti Lal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Sam Pitroda and Young India Ltd – had challenged the summons issued to them by a trial court on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy against them for alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds in taking control of the now-defunct daily. Subramanian Swamy vs. Smt. They had appealed in the Patiala House court complying with the order.

Gandhi said the complaint in the case was filed with the objective of defaming her. She said she has deep roots in the society and had been at the helm of national politics for years. “The tenor of the impugned judgment suggests that the case of the complainant as well as that of the petitioner has not been considered on the basis of the material placed on record before the Ld. Single Judge”, the petition, filed by advocate Devadatt Kamat, said.

The Delhi High Court had observed that the “actions of a political party” had “wider ramifications” and the issue under consideration was not a “mere commercial transaction”.

According to Swamy’s complaint, the fraud amounts to Rs 5,000 crore at current prices. There was a stay on the lower court proceedings until the Delhi high court, on 7 December, ruled that they should appear before the court as summoned.

The party had loaned Rs 90.25 crore to AJL, publisher of National Herald, and on December 28, 2010, it had assigned this debt to YIL, a charitable company, for Rs 50 lakh.

Congress leader and senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who appeared on behalf of the Congress leaders, said that the court rejected Swamy’s plea to impose restrictions on their travel overseas.