Herald case: Vadra confident truth will prevail

Vice-President of India’s Congress Party Rahul Gandhi (2R) walks with his mother and party President Sonia Gandhi (C) and officials as they leave Patiala House Court in New Delhi on December 19, 2015, after a court appearance by the pair.

“The current federal government is deliberately targeting its opposition”, Sonia Gandhi told reporters after the hearing. “It is another thing that they could not succeed in moving us away us from our way”, she added.

Expressing strong disappointment with the Centre for approving government accommodation for BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the Congress Party on Saturday said that the former was rewarded for “dragging their top leadership to court”.

An Indian court has granted bail to Sonia and Rahul over allegations they illegally acquired a newspaper’s assets.

From the court the Gandhis drove to the Congress headquarters where they made short statements.

Mr Sibal said one bail application was moved on behalf of all accused and they had furnish one surety of Rs. 50,000 each.

The National Herald was set up in 1938 by India’s first prime minister and Rahul Gandhi’s great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru. “I have no doubts that truth will prevail”, Sonia said, speaking in Hindi.

Rejecting Congress criticism that he was doing vendetta politics at the behest of Congress, Swamy said look at the evidence in the case and not vendetta.

Party sources said it is felt that too much hype and drama with the streets filled with emotionally charged Congressmen may antagonize the judiciary and be counter productive for the Congress leadership. Sam Pitroda, yet another accused, was granted exemption from personal appearance today on medical grounds.

The newspaper ceased publishing in 2008 and the company that ran it, Associated Journals Limited, was converted into a real estate firm.

The Gandhis deny any wrongdoing and on Saturday said they would not be deterred by attempts to frame them.

The trial court had issued summons against the Gandhis and other accused on a criminal complaint filed by Dr. Swamy.

Claiming that these efforts will boomerang on Congress, he took a dig at Sonia Gandhi over her remarks that they will not be “scared”, saying the opposition party has no reason to be scared and should not scare the country as well.

They appeared before Metropolitan Magistrate Loveleen in the Patiala House courts complex.

All senior party leaders today came before the media and lambasted the Modi government for giving privileges to Subramanian Swamy who filed petition in the case.