No illegality in National Herald case, says Congress

Accusing the BJP of running a political vendetta against it, the Congress on Tuesday said it did not do anything illegal in the National Herald newspaper case and will fight it out in the court of law.

"National Herald newspaper has been a part of Congress' legacy ever since it came into being. The party helped it by giving it loans as and when required, and there was nothing wrong in it," senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said at a press conference here in Parliament House complex.

He said that he along with fellow Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi was present before the court earlier in the day and requested the judge to give a date and time so that the party leaders can appear before it.

On Monday, the Delhi High Court dismissed the plea of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi to quash the summons issued to them by a trial court on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's complaint regarding the acquisition of National Herald.

The court asked them to appear before trial court on Tuesday.

"I was there from 10.30 to 11.30 a.m. We requested the court that the accused Congress leaders want to appear before it and it could give date and time according to its convenience," Singhvi said.

He said it was the court's decision to fix December 19 as the date for the Congress leader to appear before it.

Both Sibal and Singhvi are senior lawyers and argued that giving loan to a company cannot be a criminal activity.

"Filing such cases show that government's fear that it cannot defeat the Congress, and people like Subramanian Swamy have been kept in the BJP for such acts," Sibal said.

On being asked whether the Congress would allow passage of the GST bill in parliament, the Congress leader said that they would want it to be passed.