National Herald case: Accused opposes Swamy’s plea

New Delhi: All the accused in the National Herald case filed their reply in the Patiala House court and opposed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy’s plea seeking summoning of witnesses.

The next hearing in the matter has been scheduled for April 22.

Swamy’s counsel had submitted a list of witnesses and other evidences against the accused.

Earlier, the court had dismissed Swamy’s plea, seeking documents related to the National Herald case against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi along with other a ccused.

Swamy had earlier sought documents and ledger books maintained by the Congress Party and Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

Swamy had filed an application in 2012, accusing Sonia, Rahul and others associated with Congress of conspiring to cheat in a land deal.

In his complaint, Swamy had alleged that the Congress granted an interest-free loan of Rs. 90.25 crore to the AJL, owner of the National Herald newspaper, established by Jawaharlal Nehru, which was either not repaid or repaid in case, which was in violation of Section 269T of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

In August, the court issued notices to Sonia, Rahul and five others on Swamy’s application seeking presentation of certain documents from Associated Journals Pvt. Ltd (AJL) and Indian National Congress (INC) in connection with the National Herald case. (ANI)