The issuance of summons by a munsiff court here to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to appear before the court in connection with a litigation on the ownership of a local Congress office here raises no curiosity among legal and political circles here.
The summons had been issued by Additional Munsiff K. Rajesh here on a petition filed by a woman at Cheleri here seeking the court to intervene to get the local Congress office in the Kolachery panchayat vacated on the ground that the building located on a 1.75 cent land had been donated by her mother for starting a library was being used as the party office.
The summons was sent to the Congress president on the basis of the contention of E.P. Vani Vilasini, the petitioner, that the building tax for the building under dispute was being remitted in the name of the Indian National Congress president. The petitioner had deposed that the building was used as library when her mother was alive, but later converted into the local Congress office. The case was posted for August 5.
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Congress circles here said that party properties and vehicles are invariably registered in the name of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) represented by the party president. Normally, the legal wing in the AICC office would take appropriate steps on such occasion, they said. The party president was not supposed to appear before courts when the properties or vehicles were involved in legal dispute, they pointed out.
All India Lawyers’ Congress State president T. Asaf Ali said that the summons in no way compelled Ms. Gandhi ‘s physical presence in the court. She had been listed as a ‘proper party’ in the litigation and not as a ‘necessary party’, Mr. Ali added.