Jolt to Gandhis in Herald case

New Delhi: In a major setback to the top Congress leadership, party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the Delhi high court on Friday refused to stay the income tax proceedings against Young Indian Pvt Ltd, whose major stakeholders are Sonia and Rahul.

“We are not inclined to entertain your writ petition. It is better you withdraw it and approach the income-tax assessing officer,” a bench of Justices S. Muralidhar and Chander Shekhar said.

The order makes it clear that the income tax proceedings will continue in the case. The bench noted the company had not moved the assessing-officer over its grievances, and suggested that it approach the I-T department. If it is still not satisfied, it could then go to court, the bench added.

Young Indian (YI), which was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of '50 lakh, had acquired almost all the shareholding of the Associated Journals Ltd, the owner of the National Herald newspaper.

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, in a criminal complaint filed before a trial court, had accused the Gandhis of conspiring to misappropriate funds by paying Rs 50 lakh, through which YI had obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore which the AJL owed to the Congress party. YI had approached the HC seeking a direction to stay the IT proceedings.  

BJP welcomes court order in Herald case
The BJP welcomed the court order, saying the case had serious ethical and moral dimensions. The BJP also had a word of advice for the Gandhis, urging them to cooperate in the investigation as it  would be beneficial to them.

Senior BJP leader and Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Their (Gandhis) lawyer says they will move the Supreme Court. They can do as they wish, but they must remember this involves a serious ethical and moral issue. There is an important question of propriety. Democracy runs on public morality.”

Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is also the senior advocate appearing for the Gandhis in the Delhi High Court, accused the BJP and the government of spreading disinformation about the Delhi HC proceedings. Mr Singhvi said the court had stated that all the points of law that had been raised in the petition can be raised in front of the assessing officer of the income-tax department.

“In view of this... we withdrew our petition,” Mr Singhvi said, adding that the Congress was proud of its association with National Herald newspaper.

The case has haunted the leadership of the Congress since June 2014 when the metropolitan magistrate had asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi and others to appear before her. This was on a private complaint filed by senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. He had alleged that fraud and land-grabbing had been committed by these leaders.