National Herald case: Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi granted bail; next hearing on February 20

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Dec 19, 2015: Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi were on Saturday granted bail by Patiala House court in the National Herald case, private complaint in which was filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. Get all the live updates right here through the day.

 

Four others -  including other top Congress leaders and Gandhi family associates - accused in the case have also been granted bail. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stood surety for Sonia Gandhi.
   
Hearing in the case began today at 3 pm and had ended by 3.03 pm. Congress leader and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal appeared in court for the Gandhis. He said the court had fixed February 20 as the next date of hearing.
   
Among top Congress leaders present at the Patiala House courts today was Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
   
The Gandhis are among six people accused by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy of trying to illegally acquire real estate worth thousands of crores belonging to the now defunct newspaper National Herald, founded by Jawaharlal Nehru.
   
Ahead of the hearing, Congress leaders accused the BJP of targeting opposition parties. "The government is resorting to an unprecedented level of vendetta politics," said Ghulam Nabi Azad, allegeing that the BJP "now wants an opposition-free country."
  
 The BJP has hit back, with Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying, "Rahul Gandhi (is an) expert in lying. If he has a problem with the High Court, he can go to the Supreme Court. We are in government with the peoples’ mandate."
   
He was referring to Rahul Gandhi’s earlier comment that the National Herald case is "100 per cent political vendetta coming out of the Prime Minister’s Office."
   
There is massive security at the Patiala House courts in the heart of the capital, with double barricades set up. Nearly 700 security personnel have been deployed.
   
The Congress has staged a massive show of strength with hundreds of leaders and workers gathering since this morning at the party headquarters in Delhi.
   
Congress supporters also staged anti-BJP protests in cities like Bhopal, Bengaluru and Mumbai.