National Herald case: PHC orders documents sought by Swamy to be sealed

The Patiala House Court on Saturday ordered all documents sought by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy related to the National Herald case to be sealed till the matter is pending in the Delhi High Court.

The court had on January 11 allowed Swamy's plea seeking summoning of documents from the Ministries of Finance, Urban Development and Corporate Affairs, Income Tax Department and other agencies in the case.

Appearing for the Gandhis today, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, told Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen that complainant Swamy cannot have access to the documents of the National Herald case without proper reason.

Sibal said that Swamy will have to show as to how these documents summoned by the court on January 11 were relevant to the case.

Meanwhile, the court today granted exemption to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi and three others, including Sam Pitroda, from personal appearance in the National Herald case. Pitroda was also granted bail by the court in this matter.

The court, had in December last year, granted bail to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes and Suman Dubey, who had appeared after summons were issued.

On June 26, last year, the trial court issued summons to them on Swamy's allegations of 'cheating' in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young India Ltd (YIL) -- a firm in which Sonia and Rahul own 38 percent stakes each.

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The Delhi High Court had in December 2015 rejected their plea and directed them to appear before the trial court.

The case relates to the Indian National Congress granting an interest-free loan of Rs. 90.25 crore (USD 13 million) to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), owner of the National Herald newspaper which was established by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938.