Delhi court adjourns hearing in National Herald case till March 17

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court adjourned on Saturday the hearing in the National Herald case against Congress president Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi, and four party leaders till March 17.

Metropolitan magistrate Ambika Singh of the Patiala House courts posted the matter for further hearing after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy submitted that a ₹414-crore fine was imposed on Young Indian Pvt Ltd by the income tax department in connection with the case filed by him against the Congress leaders, a PTI report said.

The court directed that the documents submitted by Swamy be kept in a sealed cover till further orders. The counsel for the defendants alleged that the I-T documents were in “unauthorised and unlawful possession of Swamy” and these should not be taken on record. The case surfaced after Swamy accused the Congress leaders in 2012 of taking over the defunct Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which runs the National Herald newspaper, through Young India Pvt Ltd, a charitable company owned by the Gandhis. It’s been alleged that AJL’s assets worth more than ₹2,000 crore were bought by Young Indian for just ₹50 crore.

The Gandhis and the other accused — party leaders Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda — have dismissed the allegations as false and fabricated. Five of them were granted bail in the case in December 2015, while Pitroda got his in February 2016.