Patiala House court on Monday December 26 dismissed BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s plea seeking documents and ledger books from the Congress Party and the Associated Journals Limited (AJL)of National Herald. The court has fixed the next hearing date on Feb 10, 2017.
Swamy filed a petition alleging Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Vice president Rahul Gandhi that they got hold of Associated Journals through ‘dishonest means’ which pertains to ‘criminal misappropriation and criminal breach of trust’.
The reason behind this dispute was that Congress granted an interest-free loan of Rs. 90.25 crore to the AJL, which owns the National Herald newspaper which was allegedly not repaid.
However reports suggest that the defense lawyer of Gandhi claimed that Swami’s petition made in July 2013 is baseless and lacks reference regarding the loan borrowed from the Congress.
They said neither Swamy made the Congress an accused nor he alleged that no office bearers were authorized to lend the loan. The counsel argued that the details of loan were never mentioned in the returns and the documents Swami asked are not necessary for this case.
The main point of contention was the Congress granting an interest-free loan of Rs. 90.25 crore to the AJL, which owns the National Herald newspaper, and that it was not allegedly not repaid.
