Delhi High Court Orders Sonia, Rahul, And Subramanian Swamy To Submit Replies In National Herald Case

The Delhi High Court has directed former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to file a brief reply in the National Herald case. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna has instructed all three to submit their written responses within four weeks. Additionally, the court mentioned that any reply filed after this period would incur a litigation cost of Rs 15,000. The next hearing is scheduled for October 29.

Subramanian Swamy has appealed to the High Court against the lower court’s decision to deny immediate permission to present additional evidence in the National Herald case. He argues that the new evidence is crucial for strengthening the prosecution against the Congress leaders, who are accused in this case.

Previously, on February 22, 2021, the High Court had issued notices to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, the All India Congress Committee (AICC), then-General Secretary Oscar Fernandez (now deceased), Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and Young India (YI), requesting their response to Swamy’s petition. Furthermore, the court had stayed the proceedings in the lower court, a stay that will continue until the next hearing date.

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Subramanian Swamy’s petition challenges the trial court’s February 11, 2021, order, which denied him permission to present additional evidence. He believes that this new evidence could lead to the prosecution of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. The trial court had previously stated that Swamy’s request under Section 244 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to preserve evidence would be considered after his testimony.

In his private criminal complaint filed in the trial court, Swamy accused the Gandhi family and others of conspiring to commit fraud and embezzlement. He claims that Young Indian Private Limited (YI) acquired the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore from Associate Journals Limited, the owner of the ‘National Herald’ newspaper, which was supposed to be paid to the Congress party. Swamy has requested to summon several witnesses, including officials from the Supreme Court, Land and Development Office, and the Income Tax Department, to verify the documents submitted.