‘National Herald legal matter, no role of Govt,’ says BJP

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday lashed out at the Congress for levelling 'baseless allegation' against the NDA Government with regard to the National Herald case.

It said that the case is a completely legal affair and added that the court has taken cognisance of prima facie breach of trust before the Modi Government came to power.

"The allegation of political vendetta is completely a baseless allegation. Here in this case no body, neither the RSS, nor the BJP has got anything to do. The court has taken the cognisance, and this was taken before Modi Government came to power that this is matter of prima facie breach of trust," Telecom Minster Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

"How property worth Rs. 2,000 crores was misappropriated without informing shareholders, the high court took a decision, and now, it is for the court to decide. They should face the court," he added.

He further slammed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi levelling false allegations against the ruling regime.

"If Rahul Gandhi has a problem with the court, he can proceed to the Supreme Court. As far as our credibility is concerned, we have come by people's support," he added.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain also pointed out that the matter had no relevance to politics.

"This is a legal matter and the law is doing its work, it has got no relevance to politics. Everyone is equal before the law and the law will take its course. The action taken by the law will be accepted to all," Hussain said.

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi too criticised the Congress Party for its unwarranted criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the National Herald case and said it has been a disease of few people in that party to flag the PMO's involvement in every matter.

"It has been a few people's habit and disease to include the name of the PMO in every matter. I think they cannot digest any fact or issue unless they take the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There's no problem if they chant ' PMO Chalisa' once a day," Naqvi said.

"This is a legal procedure and we see it as a legal action. The court will decide if someone is guilty or innocent in the matter. We believe there should be no politics in it. We are not in support of any kind of politics in it," he added.

Security has been beefed up in the Patiala House court in connection with the National Herald case.

According to party sources, the Congress is open to avail all legal remedies and options. Sonia and Rahul were summoned by the Court after a criminal complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy for alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds by them in acquiring ownership of now-defunct daily National Herald.

The National Herald newspaper was closely associated with India's freedom struggle and the Indian National Congress till 2008. In January 2008, discussions about its closure began. On 1 April 2008, the paper's editorial announced that it was temporarily suspending operations. Before its closure, the paper was being run by Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed the case in a local court in 2012. The trial court then issued summons to the two leaders among others in June 2014, but they approached the Delhi High Court seeking a stay. On Monday this week, the high court refused to stay the summons, and asked all of the accused to appear for a hearing on December 19.