Notice to Gandhis in National Herald case

Mr. Swamy also sought summoning documents from "the Congress party reflecting the loans given to AJL and documents of the party in the year in which the loan was written off."

Congress party president Sonia Gandhi with the party's vice president and her son Rahul Gandhi in this file photo.

A Delhi court on Saturday issued notices to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and others on a fresh application by senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking summoning of certain documents in the National Herald case of cheating and misappropriation.

In the application filed before Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, Dr. Swamy has sought summoning of documents relating to a loan given to the Associated Journal Limited (AJL), the publisher of the defunct daily, by the Congress, saying that the papers were necessary for the purpose of the trial of the case.

The documents sought to be summoned from the AJL, among others, are related to authorisation by its members to borrow money in excess of its paid-up capital and its free reserve, relevant extracts from its books of account of the loan period and the documents by which the loan was later converted into shares in the books of the company.

He also sought summoning of the documents of the Congress showing the loan given to the AJL and those relating to the year in which it was written off.

I-T returns documents

Further, he sought summoning of the documents filed by the AJL with Registrar of Companies, papers from the Income Tax Department relating to I-T returns filed by the company and some papers from the Department of Telecommunications.

Last month, Dr. Swamy had informed the court, which had earlier this year allowed his plea to summon certain documents related to the case, that he would file a fresh application, following the setting aside of the orders of the Metropolitan Magistrate by the Delhi High Court.

While quashing the lower court orders, the High Court had said that the right of Dr. Swamy “shall not be curtailed in any circumstance to move a fresh application during the pendency of the proceedings before the court.’’ Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Oscar Fernandes, party’s treasurer Motilal Vora and the Gandhi family loyalists Suman Dubey and Sam Pitorda are facing prosecution in the case.