National Herald case: No relief for Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday did not grant any relief to Congress president Rahul Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case. Rahul had challenged Income Tax authority's order to reopen his tax assessment related to the National Herald and Young India transactions. The Income Tax department informed the High Court that the AICC gave Rs 99 crores to Associate Journal Ltd and added that Rahul willfully chose not to disclose that he held the director's post at the Young India.

To which the court said that it'll determine whether he was under an obligation to disclose these details or not. However, on the other hand, the Congress President's lawyer asserted that Rahul did not receive any income from the source, hence he is not liable for any tax. Rahul's counsel also asked the Court to restrain media from publishing the matter, however, the High Court refused to stay media reporting.

For those unversed, the National Herald scam is an ongoing case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, their companies and associated persons. On January 20, the court of metropolitan magistrate Ambika Singh had ordered the documents submitted by the petitioner in the case, Swamy, to be kept in a sealed cover till next hearing.

Swamy, in his plea, alleged that the Congress party granted an interest-free loan of Rs. 90.25 crore to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), owner of the National Herald newspaper. In November last year, the two Congress leaders filed their response to the application filed by Swamy. In the response, they stated that the application filed by Swamy was not bonafide and filled with the sole object of "delaying the proceedings in a lifeless case".

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