Delhi police and paramilitary personnel will be deployed on court premises.
Quashing speculation that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and its vice president Rahul Gandhi would go to Tihar jail, the legal team of the Gandhis has decided to appear before the court Saturday with bail bonds, seeking bail in the National Herald case, sources told The Indian Express.
It is learnt that the legal team of the two Congress leaders took a decision Friday morning that “it will serve no purpose” for not seeking bail in the case, as it is a “politically motivated one”. The sources said the bail bonds for the Gandhis are ready and their defence lawyers would be carrying them to the trial court.
Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen has directed the two Congress leaders and five others accused in the National Herald case to appear before it Saturday. The trial court has summoned them as accused, taking cognisance of the complaint by BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy against them for alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds in taking control of the now-defunct National Herald newspaper.
Sources said defence counsel for the Gandhis, while arguing for bail, would submit to the court that “there is no apprehension that they would be fleeing the country” and “they would fully cooperate with the trial”. The sources added that they would also seek bail for the Congress president on the grounds of ill-health.
“This a politically motivated case and preposterous one and we will argue this before court. It will serve no purpose for not seeking bail. We are ready with bail bonds and will produce it before the court, while seeking bail. We also do not anticipate a situation where the court may deny us a bail,” said a source.
While Saturday’s hearing is only scheduled for the accused to appear before the trial court in pursuance to summons issued by it, sources said the legal team is “ready with its case, while it argues against framing of charges” in the National Herald case. “While it is only at a later stage that the court will hear arguments on framing of charges, we are, however, ready with arguments on framing of charges in the matter,” added the sources.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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Delhi police and paramilitary personnel will be deployed on court premises.
