National Herald frauds: Arrogant stealing of prime real estate - another instance of hubris of the Gandhi family by Sree Iyer.

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NATIONAL HERALD FRAUDS: 

Arrogant stealing of prime real estate - another instance of hubris of the Gandhi family 

by Sree Iyer (Author). 

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The book, as acknowledged up front, is a compilation of published news reports - written presumably by author of the book -  on the subject, most of it familiar through media but worth reading as a whole since most of readers are likely to not remember all the details thereof, in this tale of a humongous embezzlement exposed due chiefly to one courageous man's untiring efforts. 

And how one can thank him for this, one has no clue, but admiration is the very least that Dr Subramanian Swamy deserves from India. 

As one reads on throughthis datewise reported account, one sees law working glacial slowly, but just as inexorably, despite the attempts post 2014 by the now opposition to set fire to the nation - and the cool kept by the present government despite all the opposition efforts to abuse and worse. 

One is flummoxed, too, by just how silent media has been on this! 

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" ... In a detailed FAQ posted on the party web site1, Congress tried to downplay this case as an internal matter as National Herald was started by Congress Party in the thirties."

As Dr.Subramanian Swamy pointed out when another channel said so, no, it's neither internal nor family matter, much less personal; when AJIL was begun it had been donated to and invested in by thousands of Indians out of their meager earnings, and India has a right to question when the properties given by India to this corporation, for a purpose, are subsequently treated as private commercial properties, which was explicitly forbidden at the very outset. 

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"Besides challenging the high court order of December 7, 2015, both the Gandhis have sought the stay of the proceedings before the trial court till their plea was decided by the top court and grant of exemption from personal appearance before the lower court.

"However, they have said that they would appear before the trial court as and when “desired by the magistrate in accordance with law.”"

Well, the whole scam they were perpetrating until they were exposed by Dr Subramanian Swamy was to circumvent the law in the flimsiest manner, so thinly veiled that anyone without proficiency in either law or accountancy can comprehend the said expose by Dr Subramanian Swamy. 

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"The question is the continued silence of Congress leadership on one of the biggest Income Tax dues. Is Sonia Gandhi thinking of doing some deals to hush-up the Income Tax notice with certain pliable persons in Government? Why else would Ministry of Finance not allow the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to register a case of money laundering in National Herald? The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also not been allowed to register a case of land grabbing, of land allotted to National Herald by Young Indian. Maharashtra Government is yet to act on the report of the land grabbed in Bandra[73]. The only action came from Haryana Government[74], and we are seeing so many hit jobs against the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar from several quarters and also by a section of the Dynasty-Slave media houses. These entities create outrage against him and seek his resignation at the drop of a hat. Is this stony silence a plot to make some sort of a deal to hush-up the huge tax dues of Rs.249.15 crores?"

Latter part about hit jobs, yes, one does recall. 

"PGurus accessed the below published three-page Income Tax Demand notice from the more than 300-page petition of Congress in the Delhi High Court:"

Author gives the said notice in photographic format. 

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"The OpIndia article written Nupur J Sharma is very clear - In February 2017, Sibal and wife purchased a company for few lakhs of rupees1. This company was formerly owned by South Africa based controversial Indian origin businessmen and by the purchase of this company at a throwaway price, Sibal and wife became the owners of the company’s plush property in Delhi worth about Rs.89 crores."

So the lady has been persecuted viciously, and her supporters butchered literally, across India, because she dared to write against the holy axis DNA family, just as Haryana CM, Khattar, got scandals thrown at him after he behaved impeccably as per law, against the same family - its suddenly obvious! 

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"Being the lead Advocate of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case, to put it satirically, the Advocate Sibal appears to have learned the art from his clients. The National Herald case, in a nutshell, is that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi floated a company for just Rs.5 lakhs ($8000) capital and dubiously became the owners of Rs.2000 crores ($307 million) worth properties of National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL). See the similarities?!

"Sibal now relays the South African newspapers’ observation that they found nothing on Sibal’s money laundering. How can a newspaper find money laundering, that too from South Africa, on an Indian property? The newspaper report mainly concentrated on the controversial activities of South African businessmen the Guptas and Piyoosh Goyal. Meanwhile in 2013, when Sibal was a powerful Minister in UPA-2, handling Telecom, Law and IT, these Gupta brothers and Piyoosh Goyal were on the radar of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for bribing the State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda officers. The case reached nowhere as these persons are harboured safely in South Africa. Now in 2017, their Indian company is acquired by Sibal and wife at throwaway prices reminiscent of the National Herald scam.

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"What is ironic is that when he was arguing for The Wire website in a defamation case by BJP President Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, Kapil Sibal argued that it was the right of journalists to ask questions! Here is a complete reversal of stand on his part when he says that he will file a case against OpIndia website for asking questions on his purchase of a company and getting a high-value land by this purchase.

"Sibal’s answers to the South African newspaper were also different at different times. Instead of making a defamation threat, it would be nice of Sibal to clear the air on the allegation. We agree that it is his prerogative to file a defamation suit, but we also need to remind Sibal the basic rule – Telling the truth is not Defamation.

"So, Mr. Sibal, when are you conducting a full-fledged press conference on these allegations reported by OpIndia website and Union Minister Smriti Irani? The nation wants to know!"

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"The tricks of Congress leadership in National Herald case is coming to an end as the trial court has fixed for the final hearing of submission of documents for May 5. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were evading from the admission of their own documents filed in National Herald submitted in High Court and Supreme Court for the past few months. The problem for Sonia and Rahul is that these documents produced by them in the higher courts prove the case of their illegalities which is now ratified by the Income Tax Department’s fine of Rs.249 crores[77].

"On Saturday, appearing before the Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, petitioner Subramanian Swamy said that the accused Congress leaders either say Yes or No to the documents submitted by themselves in the higher courts, that too sworn under oath. These documents expose the scam in the National Herald newspaper acquisition in covert ways, he said. Instead of countering Swamy, Congress leaders’ advocates preferred to bring the printouts of Swamy’s tweets amounting to “defamation” against Sonia and Rahul. The advocates even brought out the article of PGurus ReTweeted by Swamy about the Income Tax Assessment Orders[78]. The advocates argued that these all amount to defamation, rather than avoiding the boomerang that will happen if they admit a Yes or a No to the documents submitted by them in the higher courts.

"Countering Congress lawyers, Swamy said that these kinds of arguments cannot go on and on and they have to explicitly admit or deny the truth about the documents. As Congress leaders were objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents for a long time, Swamy had produced the copies of the documents of Congress annual returns and documents of Associated Journal and Young Indian and sought Congress leaders should either deny or vouch for the authenticity of their own documents.

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"With Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy sparring and accusing each other, the May 5th hearing of the National Herald case is going to be an indicator of the forthcoming tussles in the high profile, politically sensitive case. Sonia and Rahul vehemently denied producing the Congress party’s documents and their company documents as demanded by Swamy and even went to the extent of neither denying nor confirming their documents produced by the BJP leader.

"Both sides traded charges for delaying the trial. “He wanted to delay the process and wanted to trade charges against us permanently by coming with new-new demands,” said the battery of Congress lawyers led by R S Cheema, Ramesh Gupta, and Rebecca John. Congress lawyers argued against Swamy’s demands the whole afternoon of more than two hours with Swamy intervening in between several times to provoke them. After heated and tit-for-tat arguments, Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted the case to May 14 and Swamy is expected to start his replies.

"“They (Gandhis) had submitted various documents in the Supreme Court. Now, I am asking them to confront the documents (in this court). The accused should stop wasting the court's time and either admit or deny these documents,” Swamy said, reiterating that Sonia Gandhi should admit or deny whether these documents were hers.

"“Let her just say, these documents were submitted by her in Supreme Court or deny. If deny I can file another case of perjury or contempt of court. You have no choice. Either admit or deny,” Swamy said.

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"The advocates appearing for the Gandhis, however, told the court that Swamy was wasting its time and delaying the trial by filing “unauthenticated documents” in the case. “The applications filed by the complainant are not proper. The documents which the complainant wants to be confronted are neither original nor certified. The court cannot even look at them.”

"“Every time when the complainant has to step into the witness box, he files a new application. Further, he wants summoning of documents but where are the witnesses who will authenticate them? We will admit or deny the original documents, not the photocopies. All these documents have been moved with the purpose to delay the trial and they must be dismissed,” said Congress lawyer Ramesh Gupta.

"“You just admit or deny is these are the documents you people submitted to Supreme Court by sworn affidavit. Then let us start the trial,” reiterated Swamy.

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"Step-by-step, drip-by-drip, the long arm of the law has started catching up with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald fraud. The Urban Development Ministry issued notice to the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) to vacate Herald House in Delhi by November 15, citing violations in the allotment and illegal usage of the building. In the evening Congress leadership rushed to Delhi High Court and the case is posted for tomorrow (November 13)."

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"Court Covert acquisition by Shell companies 

"AJL had stopped publishing the newspaper National Herald and other two papers in Hindi and Urdu in 2008 and the public limited company is now covertly acquired in 2010 by a shell firm called Young Indian, floated by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with 76 percent share ownership. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in 2016, filed a complaint to Urban Development Ministry to take over the Herald House, citing the blatant violations and illegalities in the garb of journalism[97].

"From 2011, after the takeover of AJL by the shell firm floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Herald House was rented out to Passport Seva Kendra and the controllers of this prime property were getting Rs.80 lakhs per month.

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"The plea of AJL, challenging the Urban Development Ministry ending the lease and asking it to vacate the premises by November 15, is scheduled to come up for a hearing Tuesday before Justice Sunil Gaur.

"The plea alleged that the Land and Development Office's order was “illegal, unconstitutional, arbitrary, tainted with malafide and without authority and jurisdiction.”

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"The petition, filed through advocates Sunil Fernandes and Priyansha Indra Sharma, said that the Centre has warned them of action under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 if they failed to vacate the premises. One of the grounds mentioned in the L&DO order is that no press has been functioning in the premises for last at least 10 years and that it is being used only for commercial purposes in violation of the lease deed.

"After Subramanian Swamy’s case and after the bail of Sonia and Rahul in December 2015, the Congress leadership started a website of National Herald to fool the law. The Congress leadership also published once in a while some supplements of National Herald to maintain the Herald House, which is expected to be worth more than Rs.1000 crores. Some pliable journalists were also appointed to pretend as if there was newspaper activity."

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"In a huge setback to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the eviction of Herald House, the headquarters of National Herald newspaper within two weeks, dismissing the petition filed by the publisher Associated Journals Limited(AJL). Finding no irregularity in the Urban Development Ministry’s Land and Development Office (L & DO) notice, the judgment said that there was total violation in the lease agreement by the publisher who was holding the building for the past 56 years and also said that the AJL’s takeover by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi floated new firm Young Indian was also “questionable” “modus operandi.”

"“The ‘subject premises’ was leased out to legendary AJL for its publication, but the dominant purpose is now practically lost. This Court is constrained to observe that major portion of the ‘subject premises’ has been rented out and petitioners’ newspaper, which was to be housed originally in the basement and ground floor, has now been shifted on the top floor with hardly any ‘press activity,” said the 17-page judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur.

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"“This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi to acquire 99% of AJL’s share speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable,” said the judgment. At present AJL, which is literally owned by Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian is earning around Rs.80 lakhs per month from 2011 by renting out two floors to Passport Seva Kendra.

"Observing that there was no wrong in eviction notice, the judgment also said that petitioner’s contention that the Government move was to erase, efface and defame the legacy of Pandit Nehru was not at all acceptable. “One fails to understand as to how the ruling dispensation has in any way erased, effaced, or defamed Pt. Nehru… the allegations of malafide leveled by petitioners are bald and unspecific and so, no note of these allegations taken,” said the judgment."

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"The AJL approached the High Court after the L & DO issued eviction notice on October 30, based on the complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy, BJP leader and petitioner in the main case. AJ was represented by Congress leader and noted lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and Government was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The court had reserved its decision on AJL's plea on November 22.

"The High Court said AJL will have to vacate the premises at ITO here within two weeks after which proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 would be initiated.

"The L&DO had ended the lease -- entered into with AJL on August 2, 1962 and made perpetual on January 10, 1967 -- asking the company to hand over the possession by November 15. The L&DO's order had also said that failure to hand over possession would lead to initiation of proceedings under the Public Premises Act.

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"In its plea, AJL has also said that the digital versions of English newspaper National Herald, Hindi's Navjivan and Urdu's Qaumi Awaz have commenced since 2016-17. The weekly newspaper 'National Herald on Sunday' resumed on September 24 last year and the place of publication was the ITO premises, AJL had said, adding that the Hindi weekly newspaper Sunday Navjivan was also being published since October this year from the same premises.

"Later in the evening, welcoming the judgment, the Urban Development Ministry said that, “It was found by the inspecting team of the Ministry on April 09, 2018 that no printing press was functioning at any floor of the premises and no paper stock was found anywhere.”

"“In earlier inspections also, the basement where Press machine should have been, was found vacant. Further, it was also found that almost all shares of AJL were transferred to ‘Young Indian Ltd’ having same address as that of AJL without any permission of the Ministry. As per a report of the Income Tax Department, in Young Indian Ltd., the majority of shares (76%) are held by the Gandhi family and the rest by Shri Motilal Vora and Shri Oscar Fernandes. It was also observed that instead of using the land given to AJL for Press purpose, they are earning a huge sum of money by renting out almost entire building except one floor which has negated the purpose for which the land was originally allotted,” said the Ministry in a statement."

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"Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s timely intervention on a prompt alert by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy collapsed the Congress leadership’s attempts to issue a dubious Circular by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to save them from the tax default case in National Herald. Shockingly, on December 31, 2018, CBDT issued a dubious Circular diluting the tax burden on the fresh issue of shares.

"This was a cunning attempt engineered by the former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who is now the lead lawyer of Sonia Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi and with National Herald facing more than Rs.400 crores tax evasion case in the National Herald case. Congress leaders lost the case against Income Tax in all forums and now their last appeal is pending in the Supreme Court, where the case is scheduled on January 8. This dubious circular by CBDT was issued by a clever act by Congress leaders led by Chidambaram to save their High Command. The CBDT was forced to issue this order by Finance Ministry headed by Arun Jaitley. The idea was to show this circular to the Supreme Court in the next hearing to save Sonia and Rahul from tax default. The content of the circular is the same as what Chidambaram and a battery of Congress lawyers were arguing in the Supreme Court.

"But this collapsed after many honest Income Tax officials alerted BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who is the main petitioner in the National Herald case. Swamy alerted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS leadership about this fraud orchestrated in the Finance Ministry under Jaitley to save Sonia and Rahul from tax evasion case. According to highly placed officials, Modi ordered the cancelation of this dubious CBDT Circular on January 3 and the Order was withdrawn by CBDT on January 4 in the evening[99].

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"Many senior Income Tax officers say this dubious move originated from the Finance Ministry in the garb of giving some relief to the new investors from Angel Tax. Chidambaram-friendly officers were behind this move, they say.

"Hearing Modi’s direction on withdrawal of the dubious CBDT Order next came the Congress’ DRAMA! After the withdrawal of the Order, on January 4 evening, Congress conducted a Press Conference at AICC Head Quarters by Vivek Tankha MP and Ahmed Patel congratulating CBDT for issuing a new order on December 31, which was canceled few hours ago. Congress leaders said they are welcoming the CBDT Order! And declared that this circular vindicates their stand in the National Herald case! Congress was planning to quietly submit the CBDT Circular of December 31 in the Supreme Court on January 8 to get relief for Sonia and Rahul[100]. But the plan collapsed due to Prime Minister’s intervention and the Circular was canceled on January 4. So, a drama was created by calling a press conference thanking CBDT on January 4, for December 31 Circular, which was canceled hours before the Press Conference!

"And next day Congress leaders started crying that the Order was withdrawn by “vendetta” filled Modi. Blaming Jaitley headed Finance Ministry, the BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said that the Government should probe who all played the dirty games in issuing this dubious circular to save Sonia and Rahul from the tax evasion in National Herald case.

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"This is not the first time the Finance Ministry under Arun Jaitley has done double-dealings in the National Herald case. In mid-2014, weeks after the trial court summoned the Congress leaders, the Enforcement Directorate issued a dubious circular to its officers asking them not to register any money laundering cases based on the summons issued by courts. The illegal order also said that the officers should wait for the Supreme Court’s decisions and not to initiate actions. The circular was withdrawn after Subramanian Swamy filed complaints to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS leaders, blaming Arun Jaitley for covert operations.

"One must remember Arun Jaitley’s controversial interview with Barkha Dutt in 2015. In his interview, Jaitley said if National Herald’s publisher Associated Journal Limited (AJL) pays back Rs.90 crores to Congress party, the case will end! Now Income Tax found that the so-called loan of Rs.90 crores was just a hoax and this fake loan claim was nothing but a clever ploy by Sonia and Rahul to covertly take over the Rs.5000 crores worth land assets across in India by AJL."

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"Having lost in the lower courts, the defunct National Herald newspaper publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL) approached the Supreme Court against the eviction from its headquarters Herald House, accusing the ruling party BJP of having a “pathological animus” towards the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. AJL, which is owned by the top Congress leadership was slammed by the Delhi High Court on February 28 and ordered to leave the Herald House. AJL is now facing the Urban Development Ministry’s final notice on March 1 of eviction from the premises for serious frauds and violations committed in the garb of advantages given to media firms.

"“This court may be pleased to take judicial notice that the principal political party of the incumbent ruling coalition dispensation at the Centre viz the BJP (in its present form since 1980 and in its earlier avatar - the Bharatiya Jana Sangh since 1951) harbours a pathological animus to the ideas of Indian's first Prime Minister - Pandit Nehru, whom they incessantly and viciously accuse of creation of a secular democratic republic where people of all faiths have equal protection and equal access under the Constitution,” the plea filed by AJL in the apex court said."

The last bit, from "Nehru ... " onwards to " ... Constitution", makes no sense. One does not "viciously accuse" someone of "equal protection and equal access" - unless we are referring to victims and criminals of horrendous crimes. 

The fact is, those who filed that plea did not wish to actually quote the accusations by BJP et al, so they substituted their own laudatory lies, instead. 

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"Terming the eviction proceedings before the single-judge bench and double-judge bench in High Court as biased and malafide, the AJL in its appeal said that its publication espouses the ideology of the Congress party, which is presently the largest opposition party in the country.

"“The eviction proceedings have been initiated for the purposes of scuttling the voice of democratic dissent of the Congress Party. It is a clear affront to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and a deliberate attempt to suppress and destroy the legacy of the first Prime Minister of the country i. e. Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the guiding light for the publications of the petitioner-company,” it said.

"The Division Bench of High Court, comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao outlined all frauds committed by the Sonia Gandhi-and-Rahul Gandhi-controlled firm Young Indian for dubiously acquiring AJL and controlling its huge land assets across the country worth more than Rs.5000 crores. The 63-page judgment detailed the various illegalities, ratifying the December 2018 judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur ordering the eviction of Herald House by the Urban Development Ministry. The Division Bench took note of the fact that AJL has been taken over by Young Indian Company for all practical purposes. It said: “This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi was to acquire 99% of AJL’s shares speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable.”"

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"Swamy vindicated 

"The scathing observation by the Division Bench totally vindicates the first criminal case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. AJL was represented by Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and the Urban Development Ministry by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. In the judgment, the Court observed that on many occasions, AJL did not answer properly and tried to hide the facts. Upholding the single bench view that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young Indian was nothing but a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of the lucrative interest in the premises to Young India, the bench observed that with just Rs.50 lakhs, Sonia and Rahul controlled the Young Indian became the owners of more than Rs.400 crores worth owners of Herald House[102].

"This is the last chance for AJL to object to the eviction from Herald House. Already, the final appeal against the Income Tax Order exposing the Rs.413 crores fine for asset-grabbing by Sonia and Rahul is before the Supreme Court. In the main case, the cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by Congress lawyers is set to resume on March 30."

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"It is a known fact that Dr. Swamy was not supported by the present Government in his fight against Corruption and the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

"Even in court proceedings, Dr. Swamy had no backing. In fact, bottlenecks were created within by a few elements to protect and safeguard the past regime's corrupt officials. Many a time, the Government appointed lawyer would fail to show up!

"The 2G case and its judgment during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) period in the public domain; the Govt officers failed to perform their duties of presenting a watertight case. A few of the Govt. officers had connections with 2G scam accused and a deep-rooted conspiracy to weaken the prosecution prevailed.

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"Dr. Swamy singlehandedly fought UPA's corruption charges in the 2G case prior to 2014 and got a favourable judgment from the Supreme Court in which the spectrum licenses got canceled. The same trend did not reflect in the 2G case judgment during the NDA period. The case collapsed in the Special Court with all accused being acquitted and an adverse comment by the Honourable Judge on the prosecution's role in presenting evidence during the trial. Now the matter is on appeal in the High Court and it is hoped that justice will be delivered this time.

"Ex FM P Chidambaram's investigation on multiple corruption cases was internally sabotaged during the 2014 - 2019 period. Crucial information from Govt agencies was leaked to the accused to counter moves. In this matter, Dr. Swamy was determined to take on the Ex-FM P Chidambaram all alone and submitted new crucial evidence of Karti Chidambaram's Foreign bank accounts, Foreign Properties, Foreign investments, details of corruption, etc. Only after the general election of 2019, has the case moved positively and now an indisputable case is framed against the accused.

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"When you review the National Herald case which Dr. Swamy filed prior to 2014, he didn't have any backing from BJP led NDA after it came to power. It was like a One-Man Army taking on the mighty Gandhi Family and their squad which was the ruling party then. The case is based on documentary evidence which presented their wrongdoings, and the outcome is likely by the first half of the next year.

"Even in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, Dr. Swamy faced difficulties due to opposition from within the Govt. They systematically opposed Dr. Swamy's role for its early hearing in the case. They wanted him out and ignored his valid plea on faith & fundamental right to pray. Misguided Govt affidavit was submitted during the proceedings. In fact, Govt had no role in the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

"Eventually, Dr. Swamy's hard work paid off with the Supreme Court listing hearing and the final judgment, in favor of the Hindus.

"Dr. Swamy's role in the fight against Corruption and the Ram Janmabhoomi case should be appreciated and lauded. He is a true Corruption Crusader and Hindu Hriday Samrat."

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"In a big slap to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday attached the defunct National Herald newspaper company Associated Journal Limited (AJL)’s 11-floor building in Bandra East in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). AJL’s 99.3 percent shares are controlled by the dubious firm Young Indian, where Sonia and Rahul own 76 percent of the shares. Congress leadership bagged this prime property in 1983 in Bandra East for office and printing of National Herald’s Mumbai edition. By mid-2000, Congress leaders engaged in deals with real estate firms and managed to get an approval to build 9 floors and two basement floors.

"Though the book value of the property is recorded at around Rs.17 crores, the market value is expected to be above Rs.500 crores. After filing a case against Sonia & Rahul in the trial court, petitioner and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy filed complaints to many agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the ED, the Urban Development Ministry, Income Tax and many State Governments against the massive properties of National Herald publishing company AJL, which is covertly grabbed by Sonia and Rahul controlled Young Indian.

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"The Haryana Government has transferred the probe to the CBI on Panchkula property saying that this is a massive fraud involving many states. The CBI has registered a case against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and the AJL Managing Director and the then Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora and ED attached the plush property in Panchkula. Bandra property attachment is the second attachment in the National Herald case. Maharashtra Government’s probe had proved many illegalities in the Bandra East land and involvement of Congress leaders in covertly handing over the newspaper company’s property to real estate sharks[106].

"The ED found that Panchkula property was valued at Rs.120 crores and AJL took a loan from Syndicate Bank’s Delhi ITO Branch to build 11 floors in Bandra East property by top Congress leadership, who are the loyalists of Sonia Gandhi family. Income Tax has already charged Sonia and Rahul of tax evasion of more Rs. 414 crores and the case are presently pending in the Supreme Court. The National Herald’s headquarters in Delhi – Herald House – is already facing eviction from Urban Development Ministry and the case is currently pending on appeal by Congress leadership in Supreme Court.

"The main case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in the trial court against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, and other Congress leaders is in the cross-examination phase."

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"BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to direct the Urban Development Ministry to take back the land allotted to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation at the heart of New Delhi. In his letter to the Prime Minister, Swamy pointed out that in 2015 he filed a petition to the Ministry citing the illegalities of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation using the prime property which was actually allotted to Congress party in 1988.

"“Much information has come in the public domain about the fraud of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. I had written a letter to the Ministry of Urban Ministry several years ago, pointing out that RGF building was built on the plot on the Raisina Road that was granted by the Ministry of Urban Development for building the Congress party office. But instead, the building has been usurped by RGF. I strongly recommend Government taking back the plot and nationalisng the building,” said Swamy in his letter to Modi."

Author gives the relevant tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy here, in a photographic format. 

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"How did Sonia Gandhi grab the plot allotted for Congress party headquarters? 

"In 1988, a year prior to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s centenary year (1989), Government (then ruled by Rajiv Gandhi) allotted a prime plot to the Congress party to build a big headquarters named Jawahar Bhawan. Across India, Congress workers collected more than Rs.500 crores for the construction of their headquarters. Many Corporates also donated money and it was known to all that the building was actually constructed by the late Dhirubhai Ambani. There were two sources of income– Congress workers collected money across the country and the Corporates pitched in too. Meanwhile, after the 30th day of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, June 21, 1991, Sonia Gandhi started the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and slowly usurped the building meant for Congress party’s headquarters. This is a clear violation. The land was allotted for Congress party’s headquarters and now using as Sonia family’s private foundation.

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"The irony is that the Congress headquarters is still working at the old building at 24, Akbar Road, neighboring Sonia Gandhis’ home at 10, Janpath Road. In 2009, Congress party and all political parties were given land at Deen Dayal Upadhayay Marg area. The Congress party is yet to construct its headquarters, while even cashless Communist parties made their offices in the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg area.

"After filing a complaint against the illegal use of Herald House in the National Herald case, Subramanian Swamy in 2015 filed a petition to Urban Development Ministry for taking back the land illegally used by Sonia Gandhi family-controlled Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Swamy also demanded a probe of RGF operating in tax haven Seychelles too."

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"Trying to speed up the procedures in the National Herald case trial, petitioner BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday approached trial court for summoning crucial Income Tax orders, Income Tax officials, Land Development Department’s order for evicting Herald House and its officials, and other witnesses. Swamy also demanded summoning of former Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi who issued a statement on behalf of Congress saying on November 2, 2012, about Congress giving Rs.90 crores loan to National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited and ‘The Pioneer’ newspaper journalist J Gopikrishnan who reported his email communications with Rahul Gandhi on the relaunch of National Herald newspaper.

"On December 5 (Saturday) the case was scheduled for resuming cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by the accused. But the advocates of the accused Congress leaders were not ready, citing their inability to present in Court due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last cross-examination was in March 2020 and for the past more than two years the main accused Sonia Gandhi’s lawyers have been examining Swamy. The BJP leader has already demanded the Court for day-to-day hearing in the case and the next hearing is scheduled on December 23.

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"In his application for summoning documents and witnesses, Swamy also sought summoning of Secretary-General (Registry Officer) Supreme Court Sanjeev S Kalgaonar, Deputy Land and Development Officer Rajnish Kumar Jha, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (Circle-1) Saket Singh. For the past three years, after Swamy produced the photocopy of Income Tax orders exposing the huge tax violation of more than Rs.414 crores by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi-headed firms, the accused persons were challenging the authenticity photocopy of the Order. Swamy countered that these documents were relied on by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the High Court and Supreme Court in their petitions against the Supreme Court. PGurus already published the 105-page Order of Income Tax department on the Rs. 414 crore tax evasion by Gandhi family using National Herald newspaper.

"“This case is a quintessential case of documentary evidence. Due to the fact that there are many documents that have been annexed to the Chief Examination of the Complainant, which are public documents, which have been marked; these are certified copies of these public documents,” the application of Swamy said.

"“Due to the fact that these are marked documents, these documents need to be proved through the testimony of the appropriate witnesses. It is reiterated that as the complainant’s case is a quintessential case of the evidence being documentary evidence, therefore these documents need to be proved through their witnesses,” it said.

................................................................................................

"Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta on December 5 adjourned the matter for December 23 as the lawyers from the accused side did not appear physically and sought an adjournment. 

"Earlier, several times, the accused Congress leaders were objecting to the submission of documents and witnesses. Apart from Subramanian Swamy’s case in the trial court, Congress leaders are facing two cases in the Supreme Court. One is the Income Tax charges of Rs.414 crores-tax-evasion and the other is eviction from the Herald House, the headquarters of the defunct National Herald newspaper. Congress leaders lost these two cases in Delhi High Court in 2018 and their appeal is pending before the Supreme Court. The Enforcement Directorate has already attached two big plush buildings of the National Herald in Panchkula and Bandra in Mumbai."

................................................................................................

"Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday objected to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s demand for production of Income Tax notices and Urban Development Ministry’s notices in the National Herald case. Instead of producing the documents served to the accused persons which they already produced in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court, the Congress leaders in their objection affidavit said that Swamy is trying to delay the process and his demand petition was vague in nature.

"For more than two years from July 2018, Congress leaders are spending time cross-examining Swamy, and, in the affidavit, they said that the demand for other process and approval of the list of witnesses can be filed later after the current process. At present, the Income Tax notice of more than Rs.400 crores tax evasion and eviction of Herald House is pending before the Supreme Court. In both cases, Congress lost the case in Delhi High Court and now the appeals are pending in the apex court.

................................................................................................

"“The present application is liable to be dismissed being totally vague; tainted by inordinate delay and dilatory in nature,” the counsel appearing for the accused said. “The present application is also liable to be dismissed as the present application does not conform to the relevant provision,” the counsel told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta. In reply to the application, the accused said that while it was the legal right of Swamy to submit a list of witnesses sought to be summoned by him, the court was not conducting a “roving inquiry.”"

Obviously congi lawyers were telling the court how to react, what to say, and, in general, usurping the rights and privileges of court! 

................................................................................................

"“The complainant has not submitted any list of witnesses even though the recording of pre-charge evidence had commenced on July 21, 2018, when the complainant himself stepped into the witness box. Needless to say that the application has to satisfy the procedure prescribed by law,” said the Congress leaders objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents and witnesses."

Funny, did they mean that their own clients had no such requirements vis-a-vis law, and could ignore it at will, circumvent it, flout it? 

................................................................................................

"Reacting to Congress leaders’ objection, Swamy said that why they object on producing the Income Tax and other notices to them and asked to agree for the day-to-day hearing?"

Author gives another tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy in photographic format. 

"Income Tax and Urban Development Ministry documents expose the frauds in National Herald and that is why Congress leadership is objecting the production of these documents in the trial court. PGurus have published the Income Tax documents exposing the huge tax evasion of more than Rs.400 crores by Sonia and Rahul controlled company Young Indian. The 105-page Income Tax findings are ratified by Delhi High Court already."

There, "objecting the production" should read "objecting to the production"

"The application moved by Swamy had sought summoning of Secretary-General Sanjeev S Kalgaonar (Registry officer) Supreme Court of India, Rajnish Kumar Jha (Dy Land & Development officer), Saket Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax Circle-1 and a Congress official who issued a press statement on November 2, 2012. Swamy also sought summoning of journalist J Gopikrishnan, also as a witness. Rahul Gandhi earlier wrote to the journalist that there is no re-launch of the newspaper.

"There are seven accused in the case - Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Motilal Vora, who recently passed away, and the company Young Indian."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“On factual position in paragraph 31 and conclusion in paragraph 39 of the High Court judgment, we are of the view that it will not be open (for trial) court recording any findings based on conclusions and same has to be decided after recording of the evidence. So, paragraph 31 and paragraph 39 are expunged,” the court said."

This amounts to letting the criminals go scot-free, unless another court repeats exactly those observations. 

"The High Court in paragraph 31, while holding that a political party was free to tap other avenues to augment its income, however said that the allegations against the Congress office bearers are that of “siphoning off the party funds in a clandestine manner.”

"Questioning the propriety of the party “extending interest free loans to a separate legal entity i. e. AJL“, it had said that “what crops up in the mind of a prudent person is as to where was the need of extending interest free loans to a public limited company engaged in a commercial venture of publishing newspapers.”

"In paragraph 39, it had said: “After having considered the entire case in its proper perspective, this court finds no hesitation to put it on record that the modus operandi adopted by petitioners in taking control of AJL via special purpose vehicle i.e. YI, particularly, when the main persons in Congress party, AJL and YI are the same, evidences a criminal intent.”

"“Whether it is cheating, criminal misappropriation or criminal breach of trust is not required to be spelt out at this nascent stage,” it said."

Presumably "it" at the end there refers to apex court, and the statement implies that the paragraphs aren't expunged permanently, but can be brought in at a later stage. 

"Directing Gandhis and others to appear before the trial court, the high court had said it could not be argued that no case for their summoning has been made out, and the “questionable conduct” of petitioners needs to be properly examined at the charge stage to find out the truth and so, these criminal proceedings cannot be thwarted at this initial stage."

................................................................................................

"British Nationality of Rahul Gandhi - This issue is now currently in Ethics Committee in Lok Sabha. L K Advani is the Chairman[14]. The findings are still awaited. In a routinely used strategy, an advocate M L Sharma, filed a sloppy Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition on this in the Supreme Court, which was rejected[15]. Congress promptly claimed that because of this, there was no merit in the allegations. 

"Scorpene submarine deal - Subramanian Swamy had alleged that Rahul Gandhi's company received kickbacks in the Scorpene Deal signed by India with the French Company DCNS. There have been no updates on this except for the Navy buying three more Scorpene submarines[16].

"National Herald case, Money Laundering - In August 2014, it was announced that ED would be probing the case from a Money Laundering angle. The findings are still awaited[17]."

Considering the properties owned by AJIL and their illegal usage attempted by the family via transfer shenanigans, calling it only money laundering rather than humongous embezzlement is akil to calling, say, Mallya a pickpocket. 

................................................................................................

Author provides photograph of the letter from Dr Subramanian Swamy to ED, pointing out the irregularity regarding a self declared British citizen - Rahul Gandhi - being member of Parliament of India, legally not permitted by India, and asking him to declare the seat as vacant. 

Why this was not promptly done is a question that needs to be dealt with. 

................................................................................................

"Meanwhile, the Income Tax department submitted files in a sealed cover. Another five Government departments such as Urban Development Ministry and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have previously submitted the files a week ago.

"Motilal Vora, the AICC treasurer and an accused in the case, has already challenged the magistrate’s order summoning Government documents from six departments, with the next hearing in the case scheduled on April 4 in the Delhi High Court. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi have also filed a petition in this regard before the magistrate for seeking a revision of the order."

Later development shows the mindset of the half axis descendents and the axis DNA erstwhile president of the party, in this context; now that the since then late Motilal Vora is no longer able to defend himself, the family has conveniently blamed hom for all wrongdoings, claiming they only signed everything he asked them to; but since that only enriched them, at least one media house had courage to question such a possibility. 

"In an earlier hearing, the magistrate decided to put the Government documents in the sealed cover considering the case being heard in the High Court. Swamy on Monday argued that as there was no stay from the High Court, the sealed cover may be opened, which was objected to by the Congress lawyers."

"Noted political commentator, Swaminathan Gurumurthy observed caustically that there were no records of Congress ever having transferred the 90 crores to AJL - rather these were Black money transactions of Motilal Vora!"

Very revealing, the tweets by the senior journalist Gurumurthy, produced here by author in photographs. 

" ... The best one-liner that comes to mind about this case is of how Motilal Vora, the treasurer of Young Indian, asks through AJL whose treasurer is Motilal Vora, of Congress whose treasurer too is Vora (!), a loan of 90 crores."

................................................................................................

"Dr. Swamy is the most sought & heard leaders in India today; his lectures these days are jam packed with enthusiastic youth, women, and others attending in huge numbers. His popularity is growing tremendously with his Nation First, India First initiative. The call to take pride with our Culture, tradition, heritage have struck a chord with the youth of the nation and they are flocking to hear him and has resulted in him being the most viewed and liked leader on the net.

"Dr. Swamy is a firm believer that Economic development must be based not only on material output and economic services but also on ancient Hindu spiritual values. These values are codified as Sanatana Dharma. The western world is studying our ancient scripture and decoding it to enhance their overall knowledge.

"During his initial days (early 70s’) in Indian politics, when Dr. Swamy called for denouncing the Soviet Union economic model and propagated an open market economy & Swadeshi Plan, the then PM Indira Gandhi called it ‘dangerous’ because “it is much like a Santa Claus.” Much Later, in 1991 Dr. Swamy's blueprint helped PM PV Narasimha Rao implement Economic reforms and opened up the Indian markets.

"Dr. Swamy strongly advocates Integral Humanism, among the guiding precepts of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Economic policy presented by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya."

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was murdered in a first class compartment of a train near Delhi while travelling, during the first tenure of the then PM Indira Gandhi, before 1971. His murder remains unsolved. He was only the second of the leaders of non-congress, non-leftist parties with values rooted in India, first being Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, to die of causes other than illness or old age, in prime of life and political career. There have been many, since then. 

................................................................................................

"Referred to as the One-Man Army, he is a maverick, and his precisely guided missiles are always on target. He has the distinction of ousting two Governments at the centre - one which was the Indira Gandhi goovrtnmrnt, in 1977, which was dictatorial, Anti-democratic and declared Emergency and curbed fundamental rights. He went underground and fought for restoring Democracy. Later, most recently in 2014, he is credited with exposing the UPA Regime’s corruption with his legal acumen and the ruling party lost the election.

"1. Daring act during Emergency in 1975: The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had imposed a state of Emergency in India in the mid-1975. Arrest warrants were issued against many including Swamy. However, he managed to escape from India and flew to Colombo and onward to United States of America. Who would dare to step-in to the Parliament on a working day, if he has an arrest warrant against his name? Well, Dr. Subramanian Swamy did just that. On 10th August 1976 it took everyone by surprise in the House and once again, donning the disguise of a Sardar (Sikh) he managed to flee India.

"2. Access to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra: It is not a hidden fact that Swamy’s relations with officials on foreign land have been rock-solid despite drawing criticism within the country. It was Swamy’s effort in 1981 that he managed for the Hindu devotees to get an access for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. His meeting with the then China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping normalized the issue, and the pilgrimage route was re-opened."

That alone should get him a place in India's heart! But there's more. 

Much, much more. 

................................................................................................

"3. Brainchild of Economic reforms in 1991: Dr. Subramanian Swamy was a member of Planning Commission and Union minister of Commerce, Law and Justice during the period of 1990-91. Not many know that the blueprint of the landmark economic reforms was prepared by Swamy and not Manmohan Singh. Swamy prepared it under the prime ministership of Chandra Shekhar Singh, but Manmohan Singh only carried it out as a Finance Minister during PV Narasimha Rao’s prime ministership. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has acknowledged Dr. Swamy ‘s contribution in preparing the Economic blueprint for implementation."

Sanjaya Baru credits the two erstwhile PMs, mentioned above, but not Dr Subramanian Swamy, in this context. 

This omission brings him discredit, more than anything else, so far. 

................................................................................................

"4. The drama by Sonia Gandhi sacrificing PM’s post – busted! It was widely propagated by a section of media that Sonia Gandhi had sacrificed the post of Prime Minister, but it was not the truth. Congress President Sonia President after winning the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections had put forward her name to President APJ Abdul Kalam, to be the next Prime Minister of India, with a letter of support signed by the party MP’s. But it was Subramanian Swamy’s letter to President that made Kalam persuade Sonia Gandhi to not make her a Prime Minister. However, the former President has refuted the claims, but Swamy has challenged the former President’s version."

Whatever his credit otherwise, this certainly diminishes the late ex-president. 

................................................................................................

"5. Electronic Voting Machines’ (EVM) fraud: Dr. Subramanian Swamy demanded an independent committee should be appointed to investigate the authenticity and security of EVMs as they are tamper prone. Swamy gave the examples of how the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and Netherlands have abandoned the method and have resorted to paper-ballot system. It was because of Swamy’s efforts that Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was introduced in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

"6. Exposing the 2G Scam: Everyone knows that the 2G Scam under UPA-regime caused a loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crores to the national exchequer as per a CAG report. Dr. Subramanian Swamy was the first person to write to PM Manmohan Singh seeking permission to prosecute the then Telecom Minister A. Raja and asked the CBI to come out with a detailed report on the matter. Manmohan Singh paid no heed to it and consequently Swamy had to file a case himself in the Supreme Court. And the rest, as they say is history.

................................................................................................

"7. The Airlines scam in India’s Aviation sector after the 2G license cancellation by SC was also challenged by Dr. Swamy in SC. There is a close link between 2G Scam and the Airline Scam. One in particular, is Indian Airlines selling its stake to a Middle East Airlines funded by dubious anti-national forces. Also, permission to allow two JV Airlines to a particular corporate who had initiated Aviation business in India in the late 1940s; thereafter its nationalisation vowed never to enter this sector. This deal is viewed as compensating the losses (BRIBE GIVEN TO PRECURE 2G LICENCES ILLEGALLY) incurred due to 2G License cancellation by SC.

"8. Challenging the Madras High Court in Nataraja Temple case: Dr. Subramanian Swamy filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court order. Madras High Court had ruled that the administration of the Nataraja Temple should be handed over to then Tamil Nadu government in 2009. The case eventually was ruled in favour of Swamy. (Not many know that Swamy is a lawyer by practice and not degree.)

................................................................................................

"9. Taking the Gandhis’ head-on in National Herald Case: Known fondly for his one-man army tactics, Subramanian Swamy has taken on the Gandhi family by himself for years now. Swamy has accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes and Motilal Vohra in the funds embezzlement case (National Herald Case). Swamy accused the Gandhis of setting up another company named Young Indian to pay the debt using Congress’ party funds. Now the matter is in Delhi sessions court with Sonia-Rahul Gandhi and other Congress members appearing as accused, out on bail. The charges will be framed very shortly. But for now, not letting Sonia Gandhi escape away in National Herald remains the topmost priority.

"10. National Hindu Renaissance: The next mission on Subramanian Swamy’s agenda is to bring a National Hindu Renaissance into force. His ideology of uniting the majority (Hindu) votes and dividing the minority (Muslim) votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections provided rich dividends for the saffron party. However, bringing a renaissance in India remains his top priority now. The latest PT (Patriotic Tweeples) and Virat Hindustan Sangam’ initiative is a small indicator to it. Implementing the Uniform Civil Code and scrapping Article 370, Building Ram Mandir at Ayodhya by 2016 -17 are the other priorities.

................................................................................................

"11. Successfully saved Ram Sethu being commercially exploited and damaged, destroyed by UPA Congress, DMK Govt during 2005. He single-handedly fought the case in the Supreme Court (SC) and won a favourable judgement. In the process, Ram Sethu is going to be declared as a National Heritage site of historical importance.

"12. The high-profile JJ, CM – TN, disproportionate assets case, in which she had to go to jail is Dr. Swamy’s fight against corruption and he is the first petitioner in the case. At present, the matter is in the SC and a final verdict is expected next month."

................................................................................................

Here, author returns to accusing Arun Jaitley, again without evidence provided for benefit of the reader. 

It's unclear why, either way. 

"While Subramanian Swamy tweeted about the Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das for his links with former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Das was a “disciplined” officer, rebutting Swamy. The tussle between Swamy and this powerful bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry goes back a long way."

Considering that the case finally broke only after UPA was out of power and a BJP led by PM Modi began its tenure, and that Arun Jaitley was very much part of the cabinet in the government in its first run, and only out in the second after 2019 due to his deteriorating health - he expired soon thereafter - its hard to imagine why, either the opposition after 2014 or Lutyens media, having taken every opportunity to abuse and lie against the government, would not at the very least name Arun Jaitley, in either this or the other - NDTV - context of humongous embezzlement, as this author does repeatedly, if there were a shred of truth, or any factual evidence, to support any of it. 

Why would the opposition after 2014, or the Lutyens cabal, be silent on this opportunity to shame the Modi government, and instead go on with false accusations, and to cast casteist and other unseemly slurs - based on lack of family wealth and status - instead? 

So one must wonder, does author have a personal grudge against the since expired ex-minister, late Arun Jaitley? 

................................................................................................

"Swamy started attacking Das for his role in Aircel Maxis case to protect Chidambaram. Those days Das was the Revenue Secretary. Enforcement Directorate (ED) comes under the Revenue Secretary. In January 2014, the then Finance Minister moved out Rajeshwar Singh, Enforcement Directorate’s Deputy Director and Investigation Officer of 2G and Aircel-Maxis cases. As Investigating Officer Singh was directly reporting to Supreme Court’s 2G Bench, which was monitoring these high-profile cases. Chidambaram was waiting for the retirement of Justice G S Singhvi in December 2013. As Singhvi was a tough judge, Chidambaram was well-aware of the repercussions of changing an Investigating Officer.

"Since 1990, several courts have given strong directions to the Government for not changing the Investigating Officers in sensitive cases till the end of the trial. Within days of Justice Singhvi’s exit, Chidambaram removed the non-pliant officer Rajeshwar Singh from the ED, despite Singh being recommended by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for absorption. This was an unprecedented action on part of the Finance Ministry. The officer joined the ED from Uttar Pradesh Police service on deputation and UPSC recommended his permanent absorption in ED.

................................................................................................

"Swamy challenged Finance Ministry’s move. Though Supreme Court ordered Rajeshwar Singh’s re-instatement in the ED in April 2014, the order was not implemented. When the new Government came, Swamy again approached the Supreme Court in October 2014 about the inaction on part of the Finance Ministry in re-instating Rajeshwar Singh[22]. Was Chidambaram controlling the Finance Ministry through pliant officers? That time CBI and ED’s Advocate was K K Venugopal in 2G related matters. Venugopal strongly objected to Finance Ministry’s dubious moves against Supreme Court appointed Investigating Officers.

"A day before the arguments were to commence, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das changed K K Venugopal and fielded Nageswara Rao as ED’s Advocate[23]. Nageswara Rao was then an Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) appointed by the UPA and is currently a judge in the Supreme Court.

"Nageswara Rao under the instructions of Revenue Department told the Supreme Court in September 2014 that all the probe in Aircel Maxis case by ED is over and that there was no need for maintaining the Investigating Officer Rajeshwar Singh. Swamy blasted Rao in the Court. K K Venugopal also took Finance Ministry to task for its distortions in the Court. The Supreme Court passed a stern direction to Ministry to absorb Rajeshwar Singh in three working days slamming the Finance Ministry[24].

"Even after Supreme Court’s direction, Revenue Department went ahead with a service case against Rajeshwar Singh’s absorption by UPSC. In all legal forums Finance Ministry lost the case including Central Administrative Tribunal and the Delhi High Court[25]. Was this punishment to Rajeshwar Singh for raiding Chidambaram’s son Karti and his companies in Aircel Maxis case? Even today, Finance Ministry’s appeal is pending before Supreme Court in Service Case for Delhi High Court ratifying CAT’s order to permanently absorb the officer in ED. Was Das delaying due promotions to Rajeshwar Singh by conducting a service case?

"So, when the Finance Minister gives a certificate to Shaktikanta Das as a “disciplined officer”, it opens it up for interpretation of what constitutes being “disciplined”[26].

................................................................................................

"During the period when Das was Revenue Secretary, the ED under him in mid-2015 even tried to block the probe in the National Herald case. After the trial court found prima-facie evidence, Swamy filed petition to the ED for registering cases for money laundering in National Herald deals. In those days ED’s chief was Rajan Katoch, a UPA appointee and a cousin of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Both Das and Katoch tried to scuttle the case. After Swamy’s complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi6, Katoch was shunted out from ED and Shaktikanta Das was shifted out from the powerful Revenue Department which controls ED, Income Tax, Customs, and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

"Some thoughts to ponder: 

"1. Is Dr. Swamy justified in his observations of Shaktikanta Das? 

"2. Why is Mr. Jaitley being so sensitive to a tweet by Dr. Swamy? 

"3. Is the NDA government finding it difficult to get things moving thanks to such “disciplined” officers?"

Good questions, there. 

................................................................................................

"Sharpening his attack in the National Herald case, Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a petition to the Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu demanding taking over the controversial Herald House building. In his petition, he said that the Herald House was appropriated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi by floating a private company called Young Indian and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which allotted the land should take back the entire building.

"DDA allotted land to Associated Journal Limited (AJL) for printing and publishing of National Herald and other two newspapers in Hindi and Urdu. The Herald House in the Delhi’s prime land in the ITO Press Enclave is worth over Rs.1000 crores ($150 million). AJL got the land from DDA at a very cheap rate for newspaper publication activity and it has stopped the publication activity in 2008. Now AJL is taken over by Sonia and Rahul by floating a company called Young Indian in 2010 in questionable ways to take procession of this property and building, said Swamy. ... "

And there's the clear evidence of an intentionally perpetrated financial crime, by whatever name. 

"“DDA now has the right to enter the said premises and take it over because it is being misused by Young Indian for collecting rent at exorbitant rates by letting out the premises to a number of corporate parties and the Passport of MEA,” said Swamy. The passport Seva Kendra is paying around more than Rs. 80 lakhs ($120,000) as rent per month to the controllers of Herald House.

"Swamy said that from the trial court to Supreme Court has ratified the prima facie cheating and fraud in the case, the DDA should take over the building as the land belong to it. AJL lost all right to continue in the building from 2008, as when they stopped the publishing activity, he said.

"“Many also say that the AJL properties in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai have been taken over by the respective state governments since my complaint case was filed in the Patiala House Courts. Hence, I urge you to do the same thing with the Herald House on the Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi,” said Swamy.

"Next hearing of the National Herald case in the trial court is on August 20. Swamy said he will file a fresh petition for seeking documents from the Congress party, AJL and other government departments."

................................................................................................

"Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the other five accused in the National Herald case objected to Subramanian Swamy’s petition to summon new documents. In a six-page reply submitted before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, the Congress leaders accused that Swamy is on a “fishing and roving” inquiry and is attempting to open a new case against them with these documents."

Why object, if their affairs were clean, legitimate and above board? 

"Sonia and Rahul specifically objected to Swamy’s demand of summoning Congress party’s Income Tax statements of 2010-2011 the period during which the scam occurred. “That the application preferred by the Complainant (Swamy) under Sec 91 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is vague and devoid of material particulars and is ‘in the nature of fishing and roving enquiry’ which is not permissible in the law. Courts have time and again deprecated attempts to use Sec 91 CrPC for such a roving and fishing inquiry,” said the joint reply filed by Sonia, Rahul, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Young Indian, the controversial company floated by Sonia and Rahul to dubiously acquire National Herald publishing company Associated Journals Limited."

Are criminals allowed to use court remarks to that effect, in their refusal to provide law with search of premises, which, until evidence is found, is tantamount to fishing? 

................................................................................................

"Accusing Swamy of seeking so many documents, the Congress leaders said that Swamy’s intention is to create a new case against them with these new documents. They said Swamy is going beyond the scope of enquiry and not divulging the need of the new documents."

Aren't Congress and AJIL public institutions? Why aren't their accounts and other such matters required to be available publicly, on internet? 

Secrecy, in particular, smacks of criminality. 

"“That the fundamental issue for consideration while going into the merits of the application revolves around the fact as to whether at this stage the complainant can go beyond the scope of enquiry in the complaint under the trial. The Complainant through this application is seeking to call for documents without divulging their necessity and desirability on the basis of the allegations made by him in his complaint. Thereby the complainant seeks to access documents in an attempt to make out a new case. The endeavour of the Complainant of not providing a list of witness also shows the malafide nature of the current petition,” said the Congress leaders."

Again, if Congress and AJIL were clean, why demand list of witnesses, except to browbeat, intimidate, blackmail, threaten, or worse, finish them off before they could appear? 

................................................................................................

"Swamy’s demand to summon the accounts and Income Tax statement of Congress party during the scam period (2010-2011) is vehemently objected by the Congress top brass. This Income Tax statement of the scam period is expected to be boomerang on Sonia, Rahul, Vora who always claimed that the Congress party’s transfer of Rs. 90 crores ($13.41 million) to Associated Journals Limited. Moreover, Income Tax authorities have unearthed dubious companies based in Kolkata transferring money to Congress as donation, which ultimately reached in Young Indian, which is totally illegal. Congress leaders said as Congress party is not an accused; its accounts should not be called. The following tweets by noted Political Commentator, Accountant and Journalist S Gurumurthy shed light on the sources of funding (see Figure 34, Figure 35).

"“That the complainant has sought documents from the Income Tax authorities regarding parties, which are not accused in the matter. In such a scenario, the Income Tax Act, 1961 contains Sections pertaining to confidentiality of Income Tax Records which prohibit disclosure of information of the assesses,” said Congress leaders citing several judgments on confidently of Income Tax statements."

Surely, if the nation understood that congress objects to Income Tax records of the party being disclosed, the nation will understand that the Congress party is hiding criminal financial transactions? 

Was that why congress has been reduced, from the humongous majority of Rajeev Gandhi's win, to a party with so few seats in parliament that it no longer qualifies even as opposition? 

And that Rahul Gandhi's family heritage, the Amethi parliament seat, was lost in 2019 to BJP? 

Perhaps the last bit was mostly on merit, though, since Rahul Gandhi had kept the seat in 2014 by a paltry margin of about 4,000 - unlike his great-grandfather whose sole opponent, always, got exactly one vote. (He - Kartar Singh Thatte - repeatedly fought the election, against the then PM, who was thereby very displeased, as a matter of principle, for democracy.) 

................................................................................................

"The Congress leaders also objected to summoning of documents from the Registrar of Companies (RoC). They said Swamy had already produced these documents. “To now again summon documents from RoC falls within the parameter of a fishing and roving enquiry, as the case has already been set up by the Complainant during the course of recording of pre-summoning evidence.” 

"The arguments on this matter of summoning documents are scheduled in the trial court on October 4. Trial court’s earlier order of summoning documents were challenged by the Congress leaders in Delhi High Court, citing that they were not heard. The High Court had quashed the order and documents were returned to the trial court, giving permission to Swamy to file a fresh application."

................................................................................................

"The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government is slowly but steadily proceeding against illegalities associated with the Congress leadership in the National Herald case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday summoned Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora in connection with its money laundering probe into irregularities in the allotment of a plot to Associated Journal Limited (AJL), publisher of the National Herald newspaper, in Haryana's Panchkula in 2005.

"Vora, the keeper of Congress accounts has been summoned under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for questioning on November 22. ED officials said Vora has been summoned by the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case in his capacity as the Chairman and Managing Director of the AJL.

"ED has already booked former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AJL officials and others on charges of alleged money laundering, taking cognisance of a Haryana State Vigilance Bureau FIR. The Vigilance Bureau had registered a case of cheating and corruption against Hooda and four officials who were in Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) for allegedly re-allotting a plot to AJL in Panchkula in 2005.

................................................................................................

"Meanwhile, the main National Herald case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is posted for arguments on December 9. Congress has vehemently objected to Swamy’s demand for summoning of documents from various government departments. He also demanded the Congress party to submit its balance sheets and accounts during the scam period of 2010-2011. On December 9, Swamy will continue his arguments, rebutting the Congress versions."

Author says something puzzling here. 

"ED and CBI have not acted on Swamy’s complaints against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi for breach of public trust, manipulations, cheating violating the provisions of government properties for newspaper publications and capturing the assets of AJL etc."

Is author serious, in saying "ED and CBI have not acted on Swamy’s complaints ... "? 

Why didn't ’t they? 

Lutyens effect? 

................................................................................................

"Background of Panchkula land deal 

"The vigilance case was registered under various IPC sections, including criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating, criminal conspiracy and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, against Hooda, the then HUDA chairman, an ex-officio post held by him as the CM, and four other top officials of HUDA on May 5 this year.

"The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982. After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, then Haryana Vikas Party government led by Bansi Lal took back its possession. It was re-allotted to AJL after the Congress leader came to power in 2005.

"The Vigilance Bureau had alleged that the act by the then HUDA chairman and the officials had caused a huge financial loss to HUDA as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of being allotted again to AJL.

................................................................................................

"A separate FIR had been lodged in December last year by the state vigilance bureau against Hooda as the then chairman and chief administrator of HUDA for alleged irregularities in allotment of industrial plots in Panchkula three years ago. 

"There are similar kinds of irregularities in the allotments of land for National Herald in Mumbai, Bhopal, Indore. Maharashtra State Government has already initiated action on the irregularities and capturing of Mumbai land for publication of National Herald newspaper. On August 10th, Senior BJP leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy had written to Shri. Venkaiah Naidu asking him to direct Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to re-possess Herald House, located in a prime location in New Delhi[27]."

................................................................................................

"Congress leadership has launched a website of the now defunct National Herald newspaper on November 14 – birth anniversary of founder Jawaharlal Nehru. The website http://www.nationalheraldindia.com/ is claimed as the digital edition of the paper and is seen as an attempt to beg mercy from the trial court in BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s watertight case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi with fraud, cheating and financial misappropriation charges. In this day and age, it is so easy to create a website and put a name on it and claim that it is newspaper which is what AJL appears to have done.

"“Associated Journals Limited“, a company founded in 1937 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, has launched the beta version of its English Website – www.nationalheraldindia.com starting today, November 14, 2016.

"“In keeping with the changing times, the newspaper group resumes phased publication as a multi-media outlet with a strong digital presence. The digital website will follow the same editorial vision and principles as that of our Founder, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It remains committed to furthering the values it has always cherished and the best values of the Freedom Movement – that of building a modern, democratic, just, equitable, liberal and socially harmonious nation, free of sectarian strife,” said the AICC Press Release[28].

................................................................................................

"Here the question is the role of Young Indian, a private company floated by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with 38 percent of shares each to dubiously acquire the more than 1000 shareholders owned public limited company Associated Journals Ltd.’s (AJL) assets spanning Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Panchkula, Bhopal and Indore. Another issue is the Congress party’s illegal grant of loan of Rs.90 crores ($13.53 million) to AJL and valuing this loan for just Rs.50 lakhs ($74,000) by Young Indian and dubiously taking over more than 99 percent of the shares of AJL1. Questions have been asked if Congress even gave the loan to AJL or was it from a set of dubious shell companies based in Kolkata[29].

"National Herald newspaper became defunct in 2008 and Sonia and Rahul’s newly floated company took over the publishing company AJL in a covert manner in December 2010. When Subramanian Swamy exposed the fraud in November 2012, Congress leadership was parroting that they would soon resume the publishing of the newspaper. The entire lands across India were allotted to AJL by government at throw away prices to publish the newspaper and if the newspaper publishing activity is not doing, the government reserves the right to take back the land.

................................................................................................

"Swamy had already petitioned to Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu to take back the 1000-crores worth land and building in Delhi[30], citing no newspaper publishing is taking place for the past 8 years. He also sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe on the misappropriation of the public property by Sonia and Rahul. Maharashtra and Haryana Governments have already started action on taking back the lands allotted to National Herald.

"Somehow, even after Delhi High Court and Supreme Court ratified the prima facie case of cheating, fraud and financial misappropriation found by the trial court, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not yet acted. Next hearing of the case is on December 9, where Swamy is expected to resume his arguments for the need of documents from Government and submission of balance sheets and accounts of Congress party during the scam period 2010-2011.

"The launching of the website and claiming it as a digital edition is seen as a cover up by Congress leaders to beg mercy in court during the trial. A crime that has already been committed cannot be condoned and this launch of website is nothing but an argument in court for defending the indefensible crime."

................................................................................................

"The series of letters between Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru in May 1950 exposes that Nehru and his family members used National Herald (NH) as a tool for collecting money for awarding government contracts, even from undesirable elements also. Five such letters from the book – Sardar Patel’s Correspondence shows that Nehru was warned by Patel from accepting money rampantly by misusing the government machinery.

"On May 5, 1950, Patel warned Nehru about NH, saying it accepted money of more than Rs.75,000 from two undesirable persons belong to Himalayan Airways, which illegally bagged contract for night air mail service from government, over the objections of the Indian Air Force. In that letter the Home Minister Patel cautioned the Prime Minister that NH also accepted money from one dubious businessman Akhani for the night mail contracts for his flight company.

"Patel said that Akhani also collected money from “maneuvering” firms like Tatas and the Air Services of India. Akhani was then facing cheating charges in many courts for defrauding banks. Patel also cautioned Nehru about Union Minister Ahmed Kidwai was misusing office and collecting money for National Herald from Lucknow based dubious businessmen like JP Srivastava.

................................................................................................

"That day itself Nehru replied to Patel in a wishy-washy manner, pacifying Patel saying that he had asked his son-in-law and General Manager of National Herald, Feroze Gandhi to inquire about the illegal money collection. Seeing Nehru’s attitude Patel shot back next day on May 6, rebutting his claims. The Home Minister reiterated to Prime Minister, urged him to desist the practice of money collection in the name of National Herald from dubious persons for granting contracts from Government. All the five letters between Patel and Nehru are published at the end of this article, exposing the frauds in fund collection for the National Herald by Nehru family.

"Nehru replied back on May 6 trying to calm him, while not answering his specific findings of illegal funding. At one point Nehru claimed that for the past three years he has not had any links with National Herald and Feroze Gandhi and one Mridula is entrusted with raising funds for the newspaper. On some cases, Nehru admitted that mistakes happened."

Not Mrs Sarabhai? 

"Seeing Nehru’s style of protecting the fund collectors, Patel wrote the last letter on May 10, 1950. In his letter, Patel showed displeasure about Nehru protecting such dubious payments and reiterated that as Home Minister, he has found the disingenuity of such payments and persons associating with NH funding troubling."

Author gives photographs of the above-mentioned letters. 

................................................................................................

"Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Friday is set to pronounce the order on December 26th on the issue of summoning documents from Government and Congress party in the National Herald case. Hearing the heated arguments between a battery of lawyers of Congress party and petitioner Subramanian Swamy for more than 90 minutes on the need of the documents in the politically sensitive case, Magistrate Lovleen declared pronouncement of orders on this regard.

"Lawyers of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi argued that Swamy was going on a “fishing and roving” exercise and that the Court should not allow his petition to summon documents from Income Tax and the Registrar of Companies. Advocates R S Cheema, Ramesh Gupta and Rebecca John vehemently objected to Swamy’s arguments. Swamy sought mainly documents related to the controversial Rs.90 crores transaction from Congress party and Associated Journals.

"The Courtroom witnessed heated exchanges between Swamy and Congress lawyers. Many a time, Congress lawyers said that the BJP leader was trying to create new cases against them from after getting new documents and his intentions were malicious. Swamy countered the arguments that accused cannot dictate what all the documents to be sought and urged the need for the documents which would expose the money laundering and illegalities in the National Herald scam.

................................................................................................

"Congress lawyers objected many times when Swamy provoked them on the contents of the Congress party’s balance sheets and account statements during the scam period in 2010-2011. Swamy provoked them by distributing the controversial letters between Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru during 1950 about the dubious collection of funds from controversial businessmen[31]. “Everyday Swamy is bringing some documents. This should not be permitted,” said Congress lawyers.

"“This is not the part of the case. I just wanted to show the history and the nature of frauds happening for a long time with this organization,” Swamy retorted, and handed over the copy of the letters to the Magistrate.

"Earlier in January, the Court allowed Swamy’s petition and all government documents submitted documents in a sealed cover. Congress leaders challenged trial court’s decision citing that they were not heard before passing the orders. Delhi High Court observed that trial court made an error by not hearing the arguments of the accused in this regard."

................................................................................................

"The Metropolitan Magistrate on Monday dismissed BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition to seek documents from government departments and the Congress in the National Herald case. However, the Court asked Swamy to file the list of witnesses and gave him opportunity to file “appropriate” petition for summoning documents again during the trial, while terming his dismissed petition as “fishing inquiry” and trying to widen the scope of the case.

"“In the interests of justice, last opportunity is granted to the complainant to file the list of witnesses as undertaking by him previously and also to move appropriate application for summoning of records, if he so desires,” said the Order issued by Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen. According to this one-page order on Monday’s proceedings, Swamy has to submit reasons for each document he seeks during the trial.

"Swamy has sought more than 100 documents from the Income Tax department, Registrar of Companies, Congress and National Herald publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The 24-page Order, observed that Swamy “seemed to enlarge the scope of present proceedings.” Swamy termed this order as “perverse” one and said he will appeal.

................................................................................................

"The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned All India Congress Committee (AICC) Treasurer Motilal Vora and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with the money laundering in the National Herald case. ED sleuths questioned Vora at his residence on April 18 in Delhi. Hooda was questioned at ED’s Chandigarh office. Both were interrogated by ED sleuths, focusing on the dubious land allotment in Panchkula to the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

"The questioning of Vora has sent shock waves to the Congress top leadership. Vora is Sonia’s treasurer from 1998, after she ascended to the President-ship of the Party. According to ED officials, they went to his house for questioning due to his illness. ED’s action came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Hooda and AJL. Vora is the Chairman and Managing Director of AJL for the past two decades. State Vigilance found several violations in the allotment of Panchkula plot in 2005 when Hooda was the Chief Minister of Haryana.

"Apart from Hooda and AJL, the CBI FIR named the then Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) officials[33]. Three IAS officers namely S S Dhillon, Vineet Garg and the recently retired Shakuntala Jakhu were named in the FIR."

Author gives a tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy as a photograph. 

................................................................................................

"Meanwhile, the next hearing of Subramanian Swamy’s case in National Herald matter is scheduled for April 22 before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court. The case is pending before arguments on Swamy’s petition to summon witnesses such as some officials from Income Tax, Registrar of Companies and Urban Development Ministry. He also demanded summoning AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi in the case citing that the Congress leader was the first person who admitted from the party that they had paid Rs.90 crores ($13.9 million) to AJL, which is a clear violation of laws.

"Meanwhile, like the Haryana Government, Maharashtra Government too has ordered a probe on the violations and illegal sale of prime plot allotted in Bandra.

"It is expected that CBI and ED’s actions would create an interesting turn of events in Swamy’s case which mainly targets Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Other persons accused in the case are Sonia’s trusted men Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, and Sam Pitroda.

................................................................................................

"Swamy has already filed complaints to CBI, ED, and Urban Development Ministry for registering case for grabbing the plot and building in Delhi and money trail of Rs.90 crores ($13.9 million) from Congress party to AJL, which is acquired by Sonia and Rahul by floating a new private company called Young Indian. 

"Meanwhile, like the Haryana Government, Maharashtra Government too has ordered a probe on the violations and illegal sale of prime plot allotted in Bandra. Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis has appointed Additional Chief Secretary Gautam Chatterjee to probe into the land grabbing and illegal sale of Bandra property and the officer had submitted the report detailing the violations to the State Government in Feb 2016[34]. Till date the state government has not taken any action.  

"Similarly, Income Tax Department has also not finished its probe on money trail from Congress to the AJL."

................................................................................................

"Further tightening the screws in the National Herald case, Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy filed application on Saturday for summoning former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda citing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) First Information Report (FIR)s in the Panchkula land allotment scam. Swamy’s petition was vehemently objected to by the Congress leaders’s lawyers alleging that he was purposefully widening the case and creating mischief.

"The lawyers representing Congress leaders led by R S Cheema objected to Swamy’s application. They said every time Swamy is coming with new dimensions and that the Panchkula scam has nothing to do with the main National Herald case."

Who were they trying to fool?!!!

................................................................................................

"Arguing before the Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, Swamy said his case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also details the land scam in Panchkula and he is proved right that government agencies have now registered an FIR on the matter. He said Hooda and accused Motilal Vora were recently questioned by the CBI and the role of Hooda has to be ascertained in his case also. Apart from Hooda, Swamy also demanded bureaucrats S S Dhillon, Vineet Garg and Shakuntala Jakhu be summoned as witness. These IAS officers were named in the FIR of CBI for conniving with Hooda and Assoicated Journal in 2005 during their tenure in Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

"Swamy’s idea is to widen the case and try to create more problems to his political opponents, said Cheema.

"Countering the Congress lawyers, Swamy said that his petition is about the land grabbing of lands allotted to National Herald newspaper in Delhi, Panchkula, Mumbai, Indore, Lucknow and Bhopal by main accused Sonia and Rahul. “Now the state agencies also found the irregularities and these persons are also part of the land grabbing,” he said. The case was adjourned to May 15 for further arguments."

Author gives another tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy, and one really wishes that the text thereof had been given in a form that could be quoted! 

"This is a strategic move by Swamy and the CBI and ED cases would strengthen his case. The Government’s action and registering FIR has proved Swamy’s main allegation of land grabbing in the name of newspaper business by Congress leadership."

................................................................................................

"The hubris filled Gandhi family’s smugness and disrespect for the laws of the country have been dealt a severe blow in the National Herald case. On Friday, the Congress leaders faced the wrath of Delhi High Court by directly approaching them, without going to Income Tax (IT), which had served them notice. 

"At one point, the Judges told the Congress leaders: “Don’t be arrogant. First go to tax officers,” when the lawyers again and again pressed them.

"The Delhi High Court declined to stay the income tax proceedings against Young Indian Pvt. Ltd. in the National Herald case, which involves, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and asked them to approach the tax authorities.

................................................................................................

"“We are not inclined to entertain your writ petition. It is better you withdraw it and approach the income tax assessing officer,” a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Chander Shekhar said. It also said that the company has not moved the assessing officer raising its grievances, so it should first approach the IT department and submit its documents.

"In case it is still not satisfied, the company can move the court thereafter, the bench added. At one point, the Judges told the Congress leaders: “Don’t be arrogant. First go to tax officers,” when the lawyers again and again pressed them.

"Income Tax action came after the trial court summoned Sonia, Rahul and other Congress leaders on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition.

"Sensing the mood of the bench, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Young Indian, withdrew the petition which was allowed by the court that termed it “dismissed as withdrawn.”

................................................................................................

"Young Indian (YI) had approached the high court seeking a direction to stay the IT proceedings and quashing of re- assessment notices issued against it with regard to the National Herald misappropriation of assets case. The company was issued notices regarding the assessment year 2011-12.

"The counsel for the Income Tax Department opposed the petition, saying the firm has not moved the assessing officer and hence its plea was not maintainable.

"Income Tax action came after the trial court summoned Sonia, Rahul and other Congress leaders on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition. The Income Tax Department sent notice to Congress party for illegally giving Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) to AJL. There is doubt if even Congress Party funded AJL as noted by Political Commentator, Accountant and Journalist S Gurumurthy shed light on the sources of funding[35].

"Swamy had accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs. 50 lakhs ($78,000), through which YI had obtained the right to recover Rs. 90.25 crores ($12.5 million) which the Associate Journals Limited (AJL) owed to the Congress party. Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are the co-accused in the case. Next hearing in the trial court is scheduled on May 15, where arguments for seeking further documents expected to continue."

................................................................................................

"Arecently surfaced letter from the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (IT) dept. in Lucknow proves that the Department was well aware of illegal fund flow from Congress party to National Herald publishing company 13 years ago! The IT document published at the end of this articles exposes that on December 28, 2004, the Lucknow Unit had alerted the Delhi IT unit that AJL got Rs.5.3 crores ($826,000) from Congress party illegally.

"This illegal payment from Congress party happened during the period 2001 to 2002. “During the course of assessment proceedings for AY 02-03 in the case of M/s Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL), it is found that your assessee i.e. All India Congress Committee has given an interest free loan Rs.5,30,00,000 ($826,000) during the period 1.4.2001 to 31.3.2002. This information is being passed to you for necessary action at your end,” said the Income Tax’s Lucknow Unit’s letter to New Delhi Unit titled as “Passing of Information.”

"At that time, the treasurer of Congress was Motilal Vora, who was also the Chairman of AJL. Vora became the Treasurer of the party when Sonia Gandhi captured the President-ship of the party in 1998, by unceremoniously removing Sitaram Kesri[37]. The episode, described as Toilet Gate details how the then President of the party, Sitaram Kesri was locked up in a toilet to enable Sonia to become the President of the Congress Party[38].

................................................................................................

"As per rules, a political party cannot give funds to a business activity. The saga of National Herald should convince anyone that Congress party has no respect for the laws of the country. The ongoing National Herald case exposes that the public limited company AJL has received Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) from Congress party to settle his dues. Mysteriously the new private limited company Young Indian, with 76 percent of shares owned by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi decided to take over the Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) worth dues of AJL at a valued price of Rs.50 lakhs ($78,000). Till date none has explained how Rs.90 crores got valued at Rs.50 lakhs. By this curious deal, AJL decided to allot 99.9 percent of its shares to Young Indian. Many of the 1000 plus shareholders of AJL who were contacted said they did not know of the fact that AJL was being sold to Young Indian! By this fraud[39], Young Indian with just five lakh share capital floated in December 2010, became the owner of AJL’s Rs.5000 crores ($779 million) worth land assets and buildings across India.

................................................................................................

"Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi are in a blue funk, unable to explain their illegal takeover of the assets of the National Herald Group in 2012, by transferring its shares to a company, Young India, in which they control 76 per cent stake.

"Briefly, the rigmarole involved the party loaning Rs 90-plus crores ($12.5 million) to Associated Journals Pvt. Ltd. (AJL), owner and publisher of National Herald (English daily), Navjivan (Hindi daily), Qaumi Awaz (Urdu daily), and National Herald International Weekly, to wipe out its debts and settle employee dues after publication formally ceased in 2008. Thereafter, on April 26, 2012, Young Indian ‘extinguished’ this Rs.90 crores debt for a paltry Rs.50 lakhs while transferring AJL shares to itself. The mathematics has never been explained to this day!"

Except what in plain sight - it's cheating, nothing more or less. 

AJIL was a public company with shareholders, donations and job, namely, publications. YI is purely private and controlled by a small, semi-Indian if that, family, and they have transferred the public company to ownership by private one they control, so thay the several thousand crores worth assets of the AJIL now are owned by YI, the private company, at a cost of 50 lakh, which is less than a .001% of value of the assets of the purchased company. 

................................................................................................

"The transactions were conducted in utmost secrecy, with Motilal Vora as party treasurer transferring the money to Motilal Vora as chairman cum managing director of AJL and select family loyalists in the know. Vora and party general secretary Oscar Fernandes are also shareholders in Young Indian, with 12 per cent stake each. Other Directors include family friends Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda."

Hence the stink. 

"Some persons who held shares from the time Jawaharlal Nehru launched National Herald in 1937, with funds from the public, were aghast at the development and blew the whistle, discreetly. That is how this writer came to be the first journalist to touch the story [Niticentral, 29 October 2012] at a time when it seemed that the Gandhi family could never be held accountable for any misdeed. Now, thanks to the doggedness of BJP leader, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, who took the case to court, struggled to get it admitted and followed it through, this is one act for which they will be held legally liable."

Nation must thank, too, that not everyone was gorgeous sale - nor the family smart enough to cover every possible eventuality, but, instead, arrogant enough to think that nobody could successfully point a finger at any of them. 

Is that due to fascist DNA? Or is it worse? War criminal DNA of a nazi, as the possibility indicated by discoveries of Dr Subramanian Swamy regarding the history of the branch of the family in charge of family fortunes, after deaths of Indira Gandhi and her sons? 

................................................................................................

"It bears stating that Union Finance Finister Arun Jaitley’s assertion to a news channel (Aug 5, 2014) that the Congress could “simply return the loan and the matter could end,” is incorrect[40]. First, Congress did not take any loan. Rather, it was Congress that loaned a staggering Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) to AJL, which is a commercial enterprise (even if non-viable), and this is illegal for a political party. It is shameful that the Election Commission has failed to take cognisance of this breach."

That should be Minister, not "Finister". 

"Second, AJL was set up with around 5000 shareholders. By purchasing its debt of Rs.90 crores from the Congress party, for a paltry sum of Rs.50 lakhs ($78,000), without informing any of the original shareholders or their heirs, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi indulged in an illegal activity that gave them control of real estate worth around Rs 5000 crores ($779 million). Since the story broke, many questionable property deals in the name of National Herald have come to light."

Chutzpah of daylight robbery. 

................................................................................................

"On Friday, 12 May 2017, the Delhi High Court rejected Young Indian Private Ltd’s petition to quash Income Tax Department proceedings against it and directed the company to first approach the Income Tax assessing officer and submit all required documents[41].

"Young Indian (Registration no. 55-210686) is a private company registered under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. Its stated aim is to inculcate “in the mind of India’s youth, commitment to the ideal of a democratic and secular society for its entire populace without any distinction as to religion, caste or creed and to awaken India’s youth to participate in activities that promote the foregoing objective.” ... "

That's eyewash of the muzak variety, of the grade played in elevators dfor over a fortnight at the end of the year. 

"... As this has nothing to do with journalism, it is inexplicable as to why Young Indian acquired the assets of a media company for its activities. ... "

Of course, since acquisition of assets of AJIL was the real purpose, and all that verbose cover was just that. Cover. 

" ... Moreover, the National Herald building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg has been rented to the Ministry of External Affairs for its Passport Division at a reported sum of Rs.60 lakhs ($94,000) per month. Young Indian has never explained what it does with the money."

Other than being in family pockets? 

................................................................................................

"The takeover was executed systematically. AJL was formally closed and printing of all publications terminated in 2008, leaving an unpaid debt of Rs.90 crores approximately. On November 23, 2010, Young Indian Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated with a paid-up capital of just Rs 5 lakh u/s 25 of the Companies Act, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owned 38 per cent shares each (jointly 76 per cent)."

If the capital was only 5 lakh, how did YI raise 50 lakh, ten times the capital, to pay for AJIL, a company with assets worth over 5,000 crores, which is 100,000 times worth 5 lakh, the said capital of YI? 

"In December 2010, the Board of Directors of Young Indian passed a resolution to “own” the outstanding debt of the AJL and obtained an unsecured zero interest loan from the Congress for equivalent amount to liquidate the said debt. Sonia Gandhi was the then Congress president, Rahul Gandhi general secretary, and Motilal Vora party treasurer and CMD of AJL.

"The AJL held a Board meeting and declared that it could not discharge the debt to Congress. It resolved without reference to and approval of the shareholders that Young Indian would own its debt, and for Rs. 50 lakhs its entire share equity would be transferred to Young Indian. Thus, AJL became a wholly owned company of Young Indian. The loan obtained from the party was written off as irrecoverable."

Sleight of hand, no matter which way one sees, and in clear sight, performed in slow motion, with no real attempt at hiding, except the family prestige, used as a fig leaf. 

................................................................................................

"The AJL Balance Sheet shows that it had real estate assets possibly worth Rs.5000 crores, in Delhi, Lucknow, Bhopal, Indore, Mumbai, Panchkula, Patna and other yet identified places. These were provided by various Central and State Governments after 1947 for facilitating newspaper printing, and publishing.

"After taken possession of this vast real estate, Young Indian declared that according to its objectives submitted for obtaining registration under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 it will not engage in publishing a newspaper including the National Herald. The Herald House in New Delhi has been rented and Young Indian receives the remuneration.

"That there was deep planning behind these moves can be seen from the fact that in AJL’s List of Shareholders and Debenture Holders 2008, the name of Rahul Gandhi has been inserted by hand at Page 49, with no shares or debentures allotted, and no other particulars given. In the List for 2011, Young Indian figures as the last entry, with the address N-125 Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110017, and the shares allotted are 9,02,16,898. Moti Lal Vora signed this document in his capacity as Managing Director.

................................................................................................

"The 2011 list of shareholders submitted to the Registrar of Companies included names of mostly deceased persons (about 80 per cent) and firms long defunct. Names that stand out include Jawaharlal Nehru of Anand Bhawan, Allahabad (died 1964); Rafi Ahmad Kidwai (d 1954); Feroze Gandhi (d 1960); Indira Nehru Gandhi (d 1984); Ghanshyam Das Birla (d 1983); NS Pandit and Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (she died 1990); Kailash Nath Katju (d 1968); Dr. Radha Kumud Mukherji; former Chief Justice of India; Mirza Hameedullah Beg (d 1985); Yagya Dutt Sharma (d 1996); Sucheta Kripalani (d 1974); Yashpal Kapoor; Mohammed Yunus (d 2001); BRCC president Rajni Patel; Jitendra Prasad (d 2001); H.Y. Sharda Prasad (d 2008); Lalit Suri (d 2006).

"When any shareholder died, AJL did not pass on the shares to their legal heirs. However, members of the Nehru-Gandhi family and their close associates entered the shareholder list: hence Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi and later their grandchildren. Some trusts like Rattan Deep Trust controlled by RD Pradhan and Rahul Gandhi, and Janhit Nidhi controlled by Rahul Gandhi, Rameshwar Thakur and Priyanka Gandhi Vadera (spelling as per list), were involved in this business.

................................................................................................

"In February 2013, Subramanian Swamy succeeded in having a criminal complaint for misappropriation of the Herald Group registered against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and the private firm Young Indian, at Patiala House Courts, New Delhi. Swamy pointed out that National Herald Group was not owned by the Nehru family, but by persons who joined the freedom movement and contributed most of the share capital. Hence, Young Indian had no right to appropriate 99 per cent of AJL shares with funds from the Congress party.

"In fact, as AJL held valuable properties and owed only Rs.90 crores to the Congress party and had little other liability, it could have used this real estate to return the loan and give huge benefits to its surviving 1000-plus shareholders who had contributed roughly Rs.89 lakhs ($89,000) to AJL’s capital at various times.

"Since the filing of the case, it has emerged that a commercial building on prime land (3,478 sq m) in Bandra[42], Mumbai, worth around Rs.200 crores ($31 million), was allotted for a Nehru memorial library and research centre nearly three decades ago. Another commercial building has come up on a plot of land taken at Panchkula (Chandigarh) in 2005, for newspapers that were already defunct.

"Under pressure, in January 2016, an extraordinary general body meeting (EGM) of AJL was held at Lucknow to help the Gandhis counter the accusation that they had usurped AJL’s real estate worth thousands of crores by seizing its equity via Young Indian.

................................................................................................

"But there are many problems. The first relates to preferential shareholders. Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan claims that his late father, Vishwamitra, held preferential shares, which do not carry voting rights. But if dividend is not paid for three years, the shareholders become voting members. As AJL never paid dividend since 1937, all preferential shareholders (or heirs) may be deemed as shareholders.

"The EGM invitees included Motilal Vora, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Syed Sibtey Razi, Sam Pitroda, Oscar Fernandes, Sheila Dikshit, Sandeep Dikshit, Salim Sherwani, Ratna Singh, and Jitin Prasada. While the first three figured as shareholders in 2008, it is unclear when the others became shareholders.

"Some shareholders who turned up at the venue were denied entry and told that they would be informed about the decisions. Though more than a year has passed, they have not been recognised and listed.

"Now Nemesis is knocking at the door. With real estate deals of daughter Priyanka Vadra and her husband, Robert Vadra, also coming under scrutiny, the Gandhi Parivar suddenly finds itself between a rock and hard place."

................................................................................................

"Stepping up his attacks in the National Herald case, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy petitioned to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) Directors to register cases against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders under Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In his detailed letter, Swamy said that by illegally floating the private company Young Indian, Sonia and Rahul grabbed the land allotted to National Herald newspaper by the Urban Development Ministry (UDM) on lease.

"Urging the two Directors to act against Sonia Gandhi in Prevention of Corruption Act, Swamy pointed out that during the scam period in December 2010, she was a public servant as she was holding the Cabinet Rank as the Chairperson of National Advisory Committee (NAC). The other accused, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez were ruling party Members of Parliament (MP)s and abused power by grabbing the prime land allotted by the UDM for publication of National Herald newspaper.

................................................................................................

"“The land allotted in Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, where the Herald House stands allotted at concessional rates in this prime area by the Central Government, was exclusively for publication of newspaper and thus the act of the accused persons grabbing semi-public property, cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery etc, not only are Indian Penal Code (IPC) offences the of which I am independently pursuing in the Magistrate Court in Patiala House in New Delhi, but it is clearly also offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and PMLA,” said Swamy in his three page letter to the CBI and ED Directors.

"Swamy accused the previous Directors of CBI and ED of hushing up his petition, even after trial court had found prima facie fraud and land grabbing and money laundering of Rs.90 crores involving the Congress party.

"“Moreover, the first accused and prime conspirator Smt. Sonia Gandhi was holding Cabinet Rank as NAC Chairperson when the crime was allegedly committed in 2010-11,” said Swamy urging to book Sonia Gandhi under Prevention of Corruption Act in National Herald case.

"Subramanian Swamy’s detailed three-page petition to CBI and ED Directors is published below ... "

Author gives it in photograph format. 

................................................................................................

"As Original petitioner Dr. Subramanian Swamy puts it, National Herald is a multi-dimensional case.

"In the history of Independent India, this case will be a landmark for the finer points of law in which it touches and sails through. It’s a law practitioner’s delight due to various interfaces of law being involved - Company Law, Income Tax, applying real estate, donation of funds in good olden days and now with donors vanishing into thin air due to passage of time - left over people absorbing intent of donors to their own intent and arrangement and legal implications for those transactions extending across India, allocation of government lands, Transfer of property act, etc.,"

That should be 'etc..', not "etc.,". 

................................................................................................

"Let us examine, one such facet of law namely “Doctrine of Cy-pres” and its scope and application in National Herald case. 

"To simply put “Cy Pres” doctrine allows to apply the gift to some other charitable purpose “as nearly as possible” to resemble the original trusts of the gift.

"Halsbury’s Laws of England, 3rd ed., Vol. 4, page 317, para. 645, expresses the doctrine as follows. “Where a clear charitable intention is expressed, it will not be permitted to fail because the mode, if specified, cannot be executed, but the law will substitute another mode cy-pres, that is, as near as possible to the mode specified by the donor.”

................................................................................................

"Facts of National Herald: 

"1. The Associated Journals Limited (The AJL) was the publisher of National Herald Newspaper, which was founded under the chairmanship of Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru

"2. The AJL was formally closed and printing of National Herald, Navjivan and Qaumi Awaz was terminated and thus ceased in 2008. The AJL was at that time under a huge unpaid debt of Rs.90 crores

"3. The AJL borrowed from congress party 90 crores and settled this debt to others and the revised position as it stands: AJL owing 90 crores to Congress

"4. On 23 November 2010, Young Indian was incorporated as Section 25 company and its board of directors passed a resolution to own the outstanding debt of the AJL to Congress party

"5. The AJL board meeting also came to conclusion that it couldn't discharge the debt it owed to congress party and accordingly shareholding of the AJL got transferred to Young Indian

"6. Young Indian decided that they will take over AJL due of Rs 90 cr loan to congress at a value of Rs.50 lakhs 

"7. AJL thanked Young Indian for such a gesture and gave them their 99.99% shares to Young Indian as “consideration.”"

................................................................................................

"To sum up, Congress party paid the outstanding loan of AJL and became its revised creditor and to discharge this “Congress“ creditor; AJL transferred its shares to Young Indian for the amount it owed Congress. This transaction arrangement by itself is a quagmire of corporate structures being put to use leading to effect that AJL is being bought under the ultimate control of Young Indian. Congress party discharging the debt was used landmine to toss up AJL, its assets and shareholders."

The beginning should read 

" ... Congress party paid the outstanding loan of AJL and became its revised creditor; and to discharge this “Congress“ creditor, AJL transferred its shares ... "

And the latter part is quite uncertain, as in "Congress party discharging the debt" makes no sense - after all, the claim made and later withdrawn was that congress loaned 90 crores to AJIL, not that congress discharged any debt owed by AJIL to anyone. 

................................................................................................

"The interplay of Doctrine of Cy-pres in National Herald case: 

"In the event of a Charitable trust being unable to discharge the trust mandate, it can consider transferring the gifts it received to another trust which comes near to its objective. The legal character of entities should closely resemble the objective. In the case of National Herald, objectives of Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited are not the same. They are different. Also, Young Indian admitting that it will not engage in publishing any newspaper including the National Herald makes the case clear that doctrine of cy-pres is violated.

"The application of the doctrine to public charities is explained in Halsbury at page 317, as follows: “WHERE a clear charitable intention is expressed, it will not be permitted to fail because the mode, if specified, cannot be executed, but the law will substitute another mode cy-pres, that is, as near as possible to the mode specified by the donor” [43]. Not only is the doctrine resorted to for the initial application of the fund given to charity, but also for applying any surplus of capital or income or subsequent increases thereof: see Halsbury pages 318 and 323. The rule of cy-pres is in harmony with the teachings of the Hindu Shastras and has been applied to charitable gifts by Hindus - Muthukrishna Naicken v. Ram chandra Naicken and others, A.I.R. 1919 Madras 659 (8) [44].

................................................................................................

"Referencing the above application of the doctrine of Cy-pres to National Herald only lead to the further conclusion - This complete transaction is a sham - Neither the objective was closely linked, nor its funds were applied. Letting out National Herald properties for rent also denotes borderline commercial activity. It gives us a hint about thought process which may have gone through in this transaction evidencing and establishing “mens rea.”"

Author is unduly charitable to the point of a lie in description of the Act as "borderline commercial activity", since renting out the premises for 60 lakhs a month has no other interpretation.  

"The doctrine of Cy-Pres is the only mode available under law to transfer gifts of trust to any other. In the case of National Herald, not only this doctrine is flouted but also it’s being done by the persons by interplaying themselves as giver and taker using corporate structures.  India is land of business and trade but trade and business cant' happen within oneself/masking oneself as other.  Where a Company does an act which is ultra vires, no legal relationship or effect ensues there from. Such an act is absolutely void and cannot be ratified even if all the shareholders agree. Ref: Dr. A. Lakshmanaswami ... vs Life Insurance Corporation on 11 December, 1962."

Next paragraph is unclear. 

"Charitable trusts across worldwide offer enough width and breath for real estate planning. This case of the National herald is one of the India’s contribution to global real estate planning in a novel way."

That should be National Herald. 

................................................................................................

"The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected the petition filed by Motilal Vora against ED’s probe in National Herald. The HC has told the Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora that he can approach it for relief if the Enforcement Directorate tries to arrest him in connection with alleged money laundering in land allotment to Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

"The court refused to entertain for now a plea by the 86-year-old national treasurer of the Congress to restrain the agency from arresting him. “It appears that there is no intention of ED to arrest him,” said the division bench comprising Chief Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar and Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal said on Tuesday, adding that his prayer for interim relief will not been taken up at this stage. “In case any attempt is made to arrest him by ED, he can file an application before the court,” the bench observed.

................................................................................................

"The case would now come up for hearing on July 19. Vora had been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate after he was summoned in his capacity as the Chairman and Managing Director of the AJL in connection with alleged irregularities in allotment of the plot to the company, which is the publisher of the National Herald newspaper, in Panchkula, Haryana, in 2005. 

"The agency had, last year, filed a criminal complaint and booked former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AJL officials and others on charges of alleged money laundering, taking cognisance of a Haryana State Vigilance Bureau FIR. Vora and AJL had moved the HC seeking quashing of the enforcement case investigation report registered by the ED.

"The CBI in April this year registered a case of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating and criminal conspiracy against Hooda, the then Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) chairman, an ex-officio post held by him as the CM, and four other top officials of HUDA[45]. Hooda had termed the action as “political vendetta” and said there was no wrongdoing. The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982.

................................................................................................

"After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, the then Haryana Vikas Party government led by Bansi Lal took back its possession. It was re-allotted to AJL under the regime of Congress-led by Hooda after the party came to power in 2005.

"It was alleged that the act by the then HUDA chairman and the officials had caused a huge financial loss to HUDA as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of being alloted again to AJL.

"Recently, Delhi High Court had rejected Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s petition to stop the Income Tax probe on the funding from Congress party to Young Indian and AJL[46]. The HC had even asked the Congress leaders to cooperate with the Income Tax. At one point, the Court said “don’t be so arrogant” when the Congress lawyer Abhishek Singhvi pressed for sending notice to Income Tax."

................................................................................................

"On Jul 1, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy applied for documents from Congress party and erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) regarding the illegal Rs.90 crores money trail. Swamy also filed the application under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) 294 to produce some crucial documents to cross verify with the accused persons. Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen issued a notice to Congress leaders in this regard and the next hearing is posted on July 22. Congress leaders are expected to object to Swamy’s demands for documents and production and verification of such documents."

Next paragraph is flanked with two wonderful cartoons. 

"The majority of the documents Swamy demanded were from AJL and Congress party regarding the illegal transaction of Rs.90 crores. For the past one year, Congress leaders have been vehemently objecting to this demand as it is a known secret that there are no such documents for this illegal or under-the-table deal of Rs.90 crores1. Even though Congress leaders claim that they have financed the AJL in the interest of protecting “Secularism and Nehruvian thoughts”, the law bans a political party to give loans for commercial operations to a company like AJL.

................................................................................................

"When the case started in the afternoon, Congress lawyers tried to put Swamy on the dock by pointing out that the BJP leader was not serving notices properly. They pointed out that in the previous hearing on May 15, the Court had directed Swamy to provide applications in 15 days and Swamy had served notices only today. In his usual style, Swamy shot back that he was trying to serve the applications to Congress side for many days and not found any of them as most of them were abroad. Sensing that Swamy was trying to poke the main accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders did not go further.

"The application under CrPC 294 is a headache for Congress leaders. This application allows Swamy to produce documents and cross verify with the accused. This is expected to be Swamy’s move to cut down the time consumption during the trial and agreeing for the cross verification of documents by Swamy would lead to the early admission of guilt in the case. So, it is expected that in the next hearing on July 22, Congress lawyers will oppose this applications tooth and nail.

"Legal experts point out that Congress wanted to start the trial by cross-examining Swamy and delaying for a long time and Swamy’s idea is to bring documents on record first and cut short the crossing by the accused. As documents are verified first, much of the evidence is placed on record, leading to reduced trial time. They point out that when the documents are placed, half of the case is over, and Swamy’s intention is to bring documents on records first to prove the major crux of the politically sensitive case.

"Congress is now in a “damned if they do and damned if they don’t” situation."

................................................................................................

"National Herald case reaches a turning point on August 5, after Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy produced 24 documents for the verification of the accused under Section 294 of CrPC. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others that are accused, objected to Swamy’s earlier petition to produce pertinent documents on the money trail from Congress and newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL). Swamy’s move to produce documents by him and verify with the accused is a nightmare for the Congress leaders.

"The next hearing in the case is scheduled for September 23. Congress leaders, as usual, are expected to object to Swamy’s new strategy of verification of the documents produced by him. Swamy produced 24 crucial documents of Congress, AJL and Sonia Rahul controlled Young Indian linking the illegal Rs.90 crore routing from the party to capture the assets of AJL. He also produced the decades' long agreements of land allotments to AJL in Bihar, Delhi, and Haryana.

"Responding to Swamy’s earlier petition for production Congress repeated that Swamy is trying to delay the legal process and with the hidden agenda to hoist more cases. The 12-page reply by the Congress leaders said Swamy’s demands are “yet another ploy to delay the proceedings in the case and not move forward according to the procedure laid by the law.”

................................................................................................

"Congress leaders said Swamy has “ulterior motives behind to move multiple applications seeking documents.” Citing out Swamy’s styles in the conducting the Congress leaders said that he is trying to create more cases and petitions and trying to delay and link with other cases like CBI FIR against former Haryana Chief Minister BS Hooda and later withdrawing the petition.

"Congress party even objected to Swamy’s demand of producing their Balance Sheets and accounts during 2010-2012, the scam period. Many party insiders say the party did not reflect the Rs.90 crores transfer to AJL and producing these accounts would be a real boomerang for the Congress leadership, as Swamy would next prefer case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

"The latest strategic step of Swamy by producing the Photostat copies of Congress and AJL documents and get it verified from the accused side under CrPC 294 is a real tension for Congress leaders, as it would directly lead to the admission of the guilt."

Author gives another delightful tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy, in a photographic reproduction format. 

................................................................................................

"During this period in December 2014, Justice Vaish took a controversial decision by quashing the CBI trial of Sonia Gandhi’s Private Secretary Vincent George[49]. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to direct the CBI to appeal against this controversial decision, which has not yet been acted upon.

"Anyway, Justice Vaish was soon transferred to Meghalaya High Court in May 2016. Now his son, a Magistrate in Delhi Courts is terminated for finding unexplainable money. Father Justice V P Vaish can’t evade from this shameful incident in Judiciary. There were talks in legal circles that the father may resign as an escape route. Being a High Court Judge, the only punishment as per the Constitution is Impeachment by Parliament. That has to be moved forward by political parties. Will they move Impeachment Motion against Justice V P Vaish? Or like in the case of errant Judge Justice Karnan, will Supreme Court remove him from judicial duties? The Supreme Court can only remove him from Judicial duties and post him in some administrative duties. Only Parliament can act through an impeachment motion by terminating his services. Will political parties act? Or will they make noise and delay the actual impeachment proceedings, giving enough time for V P Vaish to exit by resigning? 

"The Modi government, by firing a Magistrate has given a strong message to the judiciary. Those who are caught red handed with unexplained income will be named, shamed, and thrown out. This will instil fear in the hearts of the corrupt judges who permeate the system at every level in India."

................................................................................................

"Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy blamed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India, for the delay in action in major seven cases of corruption by the agency probes including the Aircel-Maxis, National Herald, and Robert Vadra cases. In a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Swamy listed the seven cases and inaction by the CBI for the past several months.

"Swamy pointed out that CBI has not yet moved an inch in the National Herald case land grabbing by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi under Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), even after many courts up to Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the ongoing case filed by him. He said that apart from Sonia and Rahul, other Directors of Young Indian such as Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes were Members of the Parliament (MPs) when grabbing the Herald House property leased by the Ministry of Urban Development.

................................................................................................

"“In the National Herald case, in which prosecution in my Private Complaint case, the CBI has to register a case under Prevention of Corruption Act against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez who all are MPs. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) thereafter can attach all the illegally acquired properties of the Associated Journals Private Limited,” he said.

"He blamed the CBI for not acting fast against former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s family. Swamy said that CBI delayed the probe in Aircel Maxis case involving Chidambaram and son Karti and urged immediate custodial interrogation. He also said that CBI has not yet acted against Chidambaram’s wife Nalini in Sarada Chit Fund Scam.

"“In the Sarada Chit Fund case, the main accused have mentioned Nalini Chidambaram as having received illegal pecuniary benefits and gratification. Yet she has yet to be summoned and questioned,” said Swamy in a two-page letter. The letter of Swamy is published at the end of this report.

................................................................................................

"The Senior BJP leader also pointed out that CBI is going very slow in the land grabbing cases against Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. Another case he said was the CBI delay in the probe against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda in the illegal land allotment to National Herald in Panchkula.

"“The cases of Moin Qureshi and the Agusta Westland corruption have not proceeded at all, besides sensational media publicity,” said Swamy urging Prime Minister to direct CBI for speedy and fast action in these seven corruption cases."

That explains a great deal regarding the mysterious delay in CBI investigation of comparatively recent - 2020 June - murders in Mumbai, subsequently. 

"Subramanian Swamy’s letter to Prime Minister on CBI delays in seven crucial corruption cases is published below:"

Author gives the letter in photographic reproduction format. 

................................................................................................

"Without providing their own documents or getting ready to testify, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi accused senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy of trying to delay the case by asking for a series of documents.

"For the past two years, Congress leaders are not providing any documents of their party’s funding to Associated Journal Limited (AJL) or the accounts of AJL or Young Indian or the Congress party which itself exposes the scam[50]. After hearing the objection of the leaders Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh posted the case on January 20 for further arguments.

................................................................................................

"Puncturing Congress leaders repeated objections in producing their own documents, Subramanian Swamy, in the previous hearing made an application under Section 294 of CrPC. As per this Swamy can produce those documents and Congress leaders can be asked to cross verify these documents. This was a nightmare to the Congress leadership as these documents will boomerang on them and can cut short many procedures in the trial. On November 18, sensing this lethal way, Congress leaders argued that Swamy is trying to delay the process by moving many petitions while withdrawing many of his earlier petitions.

"“This exercise undertaken by the complainant to file multiple applications, choosing to withdraw some and further choosing to change the relief sought in one by replacing it with another is nothing but an absolute disregard for the precious time of this court and of the larger judicial process,” said Sonia and Rahul in their counter arguments on Swamy’s petition under Section 294 of CrPC for cross verification of National Herald case documents. The leaders sought dismissal of Swamy’s application while keeping silence on the production of their own documents or cross verification of their own documents produced by Swamy.

"The BJP leader had filed a set of documents of around 450 pages relating to the Congress party, National Herald and others before the court, seeking a response from the accused as to whether these were correct."

................................................................................................

"The Income Tax Department (ITD) exposes the blatant lies, frauds including hawala operations and land grabbing committed by Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled firm Young Indian in the National Herald case.

"The ITD declared that the Congress’ claim of giving Rs.90-crores ($14 million) loan to the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL) was a “totally bogus” claim to facilitate Gandhi family-controlled company Young Indian to dubiously take over the ownership of the lands and buildings across India. The 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order has declared that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled Young Indian’s actual taxable income is more than Rs.414 crores ($65 million) and cancelled the firm’s tax exemption certificate. As per this Assessment Order dated December 27, 2017, served to Young Indian the previous week, the company is liable for tax evasion for the concealment of income of more than Rs.414 crores. According to tax experts, the concealment of income attracts fine in the range of 100% to 300% and prosecution for concealing the income.

................................................................................................

"The Assessment Order dated December 27 served to the Young Indian was produced by main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh on Saturday afternoon to prove that his complaints and findings against all the accused are totally ratified by the Income Tax department. After assessing the Fair Market Values of the properties of AJL in New Delhi, Mumbai’s Bandra region, Lucknow, Panchkula in Haryana and Patna, the Assessment Order says the Young Indian literally owns the land and building assets of more than Rs.2000 crores.

"Income Tax in its detailed Assessment Order described the takeover of erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company AJL by Young Indian as a premeditated scheme of tax evasion, adventure, fraudulent, involved in hawala nature activities etc.

"“However, during the course of assessment proceedings, many opportunities were allowed to the assessee (Young Indian) as well as the representatives of the AICC to prove the date and mode of transfer of loan amounting to Rs.90.21 crores to the AJL,” said Income Tax department, adding that Congress leaders including its Treasurer Motilal Vora did not cooperate and raised objections several times[61]. The IT Department also produced Vora’s letters accusing the Assessing Officer for political bias for seeking the details of the Rs.90 crore loan claim to National Herald. In some letters, Vora warns the Assessing Officer that he would face prosecution and has no power to investigate these matters.

................................................................................................

"“In order to fulfil the objective of acquiring 100 percent shares of the AJL, one of the majority shareholder of the assessee (Young Indian), Rahul Gandhi along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had purchased an additional 47,513 and 2,62,411 shares through Rattan Deep Trust and Janhit Nidhi Trust respectively[62] without complying with the provisions of the Companies Act,” said Income Tax in detail saying that Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crore loan to AJL was wrong and this wrong claim was mooted to take over the land assets of AJL by floating a new company called Young Indian.

"“As early as in the beginning of the year 2008 it was decided to close down the business of printing and publishing the newspaper by the AJL with the oblique purpose to make commercial use of the business assets of the AJL (commercial property located in posh areas of Delhi, Patna, Panchkula, Mumbai, Lucknow) acquired by it from the Central/ State Governments for publishing newspaper at ridiculously low prices...

"“Important office bearers of the AICC namely Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes and AJL controlled by Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes have devised the scheme involving pre-ordinate artificial and fraudulent steps to take over AJL. The objective of the scheme was two-fold, one to obtain valuable benefits embodied in business assets of the AJL and two, to not pay any tax on business income of earning such benefit.

"“The scheme has included a fraudulent transaction involving purchases of a non-existent loan of Rs.90.21 crores by AICC to AJL for a paltry sum of Rs. 50 lakhs ($78,000) by the assessee (Young Indian) company.”"

................................................................................................

"The Income Tax Order also said that Young Indian receiving Rs. One crore ($156,000) from a Kolkata based company Doltex is nothing but a hawala transaction[63].

"“The competent authority after making enquiry has held that the assessee company (Young Indian) had not carried out any activity in accordance with its charitable object and has cancelled the tax exemption enjoyed by the assessee company by passing an order under section 12AA(3) of the Act on December 26, 2017. In view of the above, the business income of the Rs.413,40,55,980 earned by the assessee (Young Indian) during year under consideration was not subject to tax exemption.”

"The Assessment Order said that 44 opportunities spanning 890 days were given to Congress leaders and Young Indian company to prove their claims. The Income Tax also re-produced Motilal Vora’s letter to the Assessing Officer, accusing him of political bias and wide range of allegations when documents were sought for the party’s claim of giving a Rs.90 crores loan.

................................................................................................

"National Herald publication was stopped in 2008 and the publishing company AJL was taken over by Young Indian in December 2010. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul have 38 percent shares each in the newly floated Young Indian. Gandhi family’s trusted Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes have 12 percent shares each. The family’s close aides Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey are also the Directors and first promoters of the Young Indian. In the case filed by Subramanian Swamy, all these six persons and Young Indian are accused and currently out on bail from December 2015[64]. Swamy approached the Metropolitan Magistrate’s court in February 2013 and taking cognizance of the office, the Court had summoned the Congress leaders. Though the Congress leadership went to Delhi High Court and Supreme Court against the trial court’s summons, however, it did not get relief. The Courts pronounced that they must face trial. After the trial court’s summons in July 2014, the Income Tax had issued notice to Young Indian and Congress and AJL for the controversial Rs.90-crore loan.

"The Magistrate directed to put the documents in a sealed cover. Swamy also produced the documents produced by Sonia Gandhi in the Supreme Court (SC) in a Special Leave Petition for National Herald. Swamy said these were the documents he wanted and said he wanted Sonia to testify these documents or face perjury if documents placed in the SC were wrong. Next hearing in this case is adjourned for March 17."

................................................................................................

"In public interest, we have decided to publish the entire 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi controlled company Young Indian. This Assessment Order proves that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s National Herald case against the Congress leadership is totally factual.

................................................................................................

Author gives paragraphs interspersed with cartoons, next. 

"This Assessment Order published below this article establishes the following:

"1. As per the Assessment Order dated December 27, 2017, Income Tax Department (ITD) found that Congress party’s claim of giving Rs.90 crores loan to National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL) was totally bogus and a fraud engineered by the Gandhi family.

"2. The ITD charges that Young Indian concealed taxable income of more than Rs.414 crores. So as per Income Tax Act, the fine for the concealed taxable income ranges between 100 to 300% and criminal prosecution for such concealment.

"3. The fake loan theory of Rs.90 crores was engineered to grab the properties of National Herald newspaper in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow, Panchkula in Haryana and Bhopal, worth more than Rs.2000 crores by the Gandhi family-controlled company. All these properties in plush localities of these cities were allotted on lease for publishing newspapers by Central and State Governments at a paltry sum. Floating a new company called Young Indian was to grab these assets.

"4. The Assessment Order shows that 44 opportunities spanning 890 days were given to the Directors of Young Indian and Congress leadership. It also shows that Congress leadership including Motilal Vora tried to accuse the Income Tax officers, rather than give answers.

"5. The Order also shows that Priyanka Vadra was also part of the dubious deals to control the National Herald publishing company AJL.

"6. The allotment of more than three lakh shares of AJL to Congress President Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka was a violation of Companies Act too.

"7. Young Indian receiving Rs.1 crore from a Kolkata based company Doltex was nothing but a hawala transaction involving money laundering.

"8. Young Indian and AJL Directors Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez and Gandhi family aides Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda acted dubiously to facilitate the grabbing of Rs.2000 crores worth assets of National Herald by Young Indian’s controlling Directors Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi."

................................................................................................

"In a big setback to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, the Delhi High Court (HC) on Monday directed their company Young Indian to deposit Rs.10 crores ($1.67 million) first in their petition against Income Tax (IT) recovery notice of Rs.249.15 crores. The bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla directed the company to deposit half the amount with the Income Tax department before March 31 and the remaining Rs.5 crores by April 15th.

"The High Court said that subject to the deposit of the amount, the tax authorities shall not enforce the demand of Rs.249.15 crores made on the company for the assessment year 2011-12. The High Court also sought the IT department's response to Young Indian's (YI) plea challenging the demand and the proceedings emanating from it and listed the matter for further hearing on April 24.

"Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Young Indian, told the court that it will have extreme difficulty in raising Rs.10 crores and sought the amount to be fixed at Rs.7.5 crores. He said that the amount was being collected from contributions by individuals and it would, therefore, be tough to get more money. He also urged the bench to allow the company to deposit the amount in court, saying it was extremely difficult to get a refund from the IT department."

Seriously? 

After renting out National Herald properties in Delhi, or a small fraction thereof, for Rs 60 lakh per month, to Government of India? 

................................................................................................

"Advocate Ashish Jain, representing the IT department, opposed the oral pleas made on YI's behalf and said the company had to actually deposit Rs.49 crores, 20 percent of the demand, for its appeal to be heard. The bench refused to grant both the pleas made orally on behalf of Young Indian and directed it to deposit Rs.10 crores with the IT department. The High Court also directed the tax authorities to expeditiously hear YI's appeal against the assessment order.

"On December 27, 2017, the Income Tax Department’s Assessment Order found that Young Indian had hushed up a taxable income of more than Rs.414 crores ($40 million)[67]. While Congress leadership has kept silent on this devastating Income Tax Order exposing the frauds in the National Herald case[68], after some weeks, BJP leader and main petitioner Subramanian Swamy produced a copy of this Income Tax Order in the trial court[69]. Even the advocates representing Sonia and Rahul were unaware of this Income Tax Order.

"The IT department has declared that Congress party’s claim of giving Rs.90 crore loans to the newspaper was a total sham and a wrong claim to facilitate Gandhi family-controlled company Young Indian to dubiously take over the ownership of the lands and buildings across India. The 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order has declared that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled Young Indian’s actual taxable income is more than Rs.414 crores and canceled the firm’s tax exemption certificate.

................................................................................................

"The Income Tax, in its detailed Assessment Order described the takeover of erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by Young Indian as a “premeditated scheme of tax evasion”, adventure, fraudulent, involved in hawala nature activities etc.

"After this order, IT fined and issued a recovery notice for Rs.249.15 crores ($40 million) from Young Indian. The company controlled by Sonia and Rahul with 76 percent shares, has approached the High Court seeking a direction to stay the recovery of the demand of tax and interest of Rs 249.15 crores, raised following a notice of December 27, 2017, issued under section 156 of the I-T Act for the assessment year 2011-12.

"It has also challenged the order of the IT authorities rejecting the firm's application and sought a stay on the direction to pay Rs.49.83 crores ($8 million), that is 20 per cent of the total disputed outstanding demand."

................................................................................................

"The normally loquacious Congress party has been keeping a stony silence on the Demand Notice of Income Tax (IT) Department, levying a fine of Rs.249.15 crores ($38.4 million) on Young Indian. PGurus have accessed the three-page Income Tax Demand Notice and it shows that the tax notice was dated December 27, 2017, giving them up to 30 days to appeal. This notice was sent by the tax department on Young Indian for hushing up taxable income to the tune of Rs.414 crores ($63.8 million).

"The 105-page Assessment Order came in the public domain only after the petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy placed this document in the trial court in his private case on January 20, 2018[70]. Even the lawyers representing Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were caught off-guard by this stunning document exposing more frauds in the National Herald case (see Figure 83).

"Even after Swamy’s exposé, the Congress leadership has kept silent. Now it is proved that both the IT Assessment Order and the Demand Notice of Rs.249.15 crores were issued on December 27, 2017. This fine came in the public domain only on March 19, 2018, when Young Indian approached the Delhi High Court against Income Tax. The tax sleuths demanded Rs.49 crores deposit to entertain the appeal against the Tax demand of Rs.249.15 crores. The three-page Income Tax Demand Notice is produced at the end of this article.

................................................................................................

"In Delhi High Court, Congress leaders pleaded that they have no money. Young Indian was represented by noted tax lawyer Arvind Datar. The Bench comprising Justices Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla ordered Young Indian to deposit Rs.10 crores ($1.54 million) to entertain their first appeal to Commissioner of Income Tax[71]. As per the order, Young Indian has to deposit Rs. Five crores ($0.77 million) before March 31 and the balance has to be deposited by April 15.

"Young Indian was controversially floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in late 2010 to take over the more than Rs.2000 crores-worth ($308.2 million) land and building assets of the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals. The mother and son are Directors and are having 38 percent shares each in Young Indian. Their trusted persons and Congress leaders Oscar Fernandez and Motilal Vora each have 12 percent shares in this company, which is now facing Rs.249.15 crores tax dues. The Sonia family’s close aides Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are also Directors of this controversial firm[72].

................................................................................................

"The question is the continued silence of Congress leadership on one of the biggest Income Tax dues. Is Sonia Gandhi thinking of doing some deals to hush-up the Income Tax notice with certain pliable persons in Government? Why else would Ministry of Finance not allow the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to register a case of money laundering in National Herald? The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also not been allowed to register a case of land grabbing, of land allotted to National Herald by Young Indian. Maharashtra Government is yet to act on the report of the land grabbed in Bandra[73]. The only action came from Haryana Government[74], and we are seeing so many hit jobs against the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar from several quarters and also by a section of the Dynasty-Slave media houses. These entities create outrage against him and seek his resignation at the drop of a hat. Is this stony silence a plot to make some sort of a deal to hush-up the huge tax dues of Rs.249.15 crores?"

Latter part about hit jobs, yes, one does recall. 

"PGurus accessed the below published three-page Income Tax Demand notice from the more than 300-page petition of Congress in the Delhi High Court:"

Author gives the said notice in photographic format. 

................................................................................................

"Yesterday – March 30 – Congress leader and noted lawyer Kapil Sibal conducted a Press Conference. It was expected that Sibal would be replying to the allegations aired against him by Union Minister Smriti Irani on the report published by the website OpIndia on the controversial acquiring of a company for just a few lakh rupees and getting land worth Rs.89 crores ($13.7 million)[75].

"Here is the 38-minute-long video of Sibal’s press conference[76]. Sibal spent most of the time on the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam paper leak and Justice Chelameshwar’s letter. The rest was his usual rhetoric against the Prime Minister and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). During the QA (Question and Answer) session, two questions came up on the allegations against him on the dubious acquisition of the company and his links with controversial businessmen, the Gupta brothers of South Africa. In two minutes Sibal closed the chapter by quoting a South African newspaper which said that they “found no money laundering or fraud practices by Sibal.” And to the second question of filing a case against OpIndia report, Sibal quipped that he will decide when and what and how to do.

"Does this mean that Sibal has something to hide or he doesn’t want to discuss the subject? This is typical Sibal style. If there was any wrong or fault in the report of OpIndia website or subsequent allegations and questions raised by Smriti Irani, Sibal would have put on a show of spectacular dimensions, countering them. His response felt more like a whimper than the roar of a lion.

................................................................................................

"The OpIndia article written Nupur J Sharma is very clear - In February 2017, Sibal and wife purchased a company for few lakhs of rupees1. This company was formerly owned by South Africa based controversial Indian origin businessmen and by the purchase of this company at a throwaway price, Sibal and wife became the owners of the company’s plush property in Delhi worth about Rs.89 crores."

So the lady has been persecuted viciously, and her supporters butchered literally, across India, because she dared to write against the holy axis DNA family, just as Haryana CM, Khattar, got scandals thrown at him after he behaved impeccably as per law, against the same family - its suddenly obvious! 

................................................................................................

"Being the lead Advocate of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case, to put it satirically, the Advocate Sibal appears to have learned the art from his clients. The National Herald case, in a nutshell, is that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi floated a company for just Rs.5 lakhs ($8000) capital and dubiously became the owners of Rs.2000 crores ($307 million) worth properties of National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL). See the similarities?!

"Sibal now relays the South African newspapers’ observation that they found nothing on Sibal’s money laundering. How can a newspaper find money laundering, that too from South Africa, on an Indian property? The newspaper report mainly concentrated on the controversial activities of South African businessmen the Guptas and Piyoosh Goyal. Meanwhile in 2013, when Sibal was a powerful Minister in UPA-2, handling Telecom, Law and IT, these Gupta brothers and Piyoosh Goyal were on the radar of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for bribing the State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda officers. The case reached nowhere as these persons are harboured safely in South Africa. Now in 2017, their Indian company is acquired by Sibal and wife at throwaway prices reminiscent of the National Herald scam.

................................................................................................

"What is ironic is that when he was arguing for The Wire website in a defamation case by BJP President Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, Kapil Sibal argued that it was the right of journalists to ask questions! Here is a complete reversal of stand on his part when he says that he will file a case against OpIndia website for asking questions on his purchase of a company and getting a high-value land by this purchase.

"Sibal’s answers to the South African newspaper were also different at different times. Instead of making a defamation threat, it would be nice of Sibal to clear the air on the allegation. We agree that it is his prerogative to file a defamation suit, but we also need to remind Sibal the basic rule – Telling the truth is not Defamation.

"So, Mr. Sibal, when are you conducting a full-fledged press conference on these allegations reported by OpIndia website and Union Minister Smriti Irani? The nation wants to know!"

................................................................................................

"The tricks of Congress leadership in National Herald case is coming to an end as the trial court has fixed for the final hearing of submission of documents for May 5. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were evading from the admission of their own documents filed in National Herald submitted in High Court and Supreme Court for the past few months. The problem for Sonia and Rahul is that these documents produced by them in the higher courts prove the case of their illegalities which is now ratified by the Income Tax Department’s fine of Rs.249 crores[77].

"On Saturday, appearing before the Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, petitioner Subramanian Swamy said that the accused Congress leaders either say Yes or No to the documents submitted by themselves in the higher courts, that too sworn under oath. These documents expose the scam in the National Herald newspaper acquisition in covert ways, he said. Instead of countering Swamy, Congress leaders’ advocates preferred to bring the printouts of Swamy’s tweets amounting to “defamation” against Sonia and Rahul. The advocates even brought out the article of PGurus ReTweeted by Swamy about the Income Tax Assessment Orders[78]. The advocates argued that these all amount to defamation, rather than avoiding the boomerang that will happen if they admit a Yes or a No to the documents submitted by them in the higher courts.

"Countering Congress lawyers, Swamy said that these kinds of arguments cannot go on and on and they have to explicitly admit or deny the truth about the documents. As Congress leaders were objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents for a long time, Swamy had produced the copies of the documents of Congress annual returns and documents of Associated Journal and Young Indian and sought Congress leaders should either deny or vouch for the authenticity of their own documents.

................................................................................................

"Apart from this the National Herald case came to a crucial stage after the Income Tax has slapped fine of Rs.249 crores to Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian. The Income Tax Order has proved that Congress claim of giving loan of Rs.90 crores was a total lie and they had engaged in hawala kind of money laundering with dubious Kolkata based shell companies[79]. The Order also said that floating of Young Indian was a covert operation to usurp the huge land assets of the National Herald publishing firm Associated Journal.

"Congress lawyer’s strategy was to delay the case by straightway crossing petitioner Subramanian Swamy for a long time. But Swamy’s strategy was to first bring out the crucial documents in the scam and cut short the crossing procedures, say legal experts. 

"With Saturday’s order by the Magistrate’s, both sides have to argue on the production of the documents in the case. The arguments are to be started on May 5."

................................................................................................

"With Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy sparring and accusing each other, the May 5th hearing of the National Herald case is going to be an indicator of the forthcoming tussles in the high profile, politically sensitive case. Sonia and Rahul vehemently denied producing the Congress party’s documents and their company documents as demanded by Swamy and even went to the extent of neither denying nor confirming their documents produced by the BJP leader.

"Both sides traded charges for delaying the trial. “He wanted to delay the process and wanted to trade charges against us permanently by coming with new-new demands,” said the battery of Congress lawyers led by R S Cheema, Ramesh Gupta, and Rebecca John. Congress lawyers argued against Swamy’s demands the whole afternoon of more than two hours with Swamy intervening in between several times to provoke them. After heated and tit-for-tat arguments, Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted the case to May 14 and Swamy is expected to start his replies.

"“They (Gandhis) had submitted various documents in the Supreme Court. Now, I am asking them to confront the documents (in this court). The accused should stop wasting the court's time and either admit or deny these documents,” Swamy said, reiterating that Sonia Gandhi should admit or deny whether these documents were hers.

"“Let her just say, these documents were submitted by her in Supreme Court or deny. If deny I can file another case of perjury or contempt of court. You have no choice. Either admit or deny,” Swamy said.

................................................................................................

"The advocates appearing for the Gandhis, however, told the court that Swamy was wasting its time and delaying the trial by filing “unauthenticated documents” in the case. “The applications filed by the complainant are not proper. The documents which the complainant wants to be confronted are neither original nor certified. The court cannot even look at them.”

"“Every time when the complainant has to step into the witness box, he files a new application. Further, he wants summoning of documents but where are the witnesses who will authenticate them? We will admit or deny the original documents, not the photocopies. All these documents have been moved with the purpose to delay the trial and they must be dismissed,” said Congress lawyer Ramesh Gupta.

"“You just admit or deny is these are the documents you people submitted to Supreme Court by sworn affidavit. Then let us start the trial,” reiterated Swamy.

................................................................................................

"Regarding Swamy's submissions that he had found certain documents related to the Income Tax department, lying along with newspapers at his doorstep, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, quipped that it showed the breach in his security.

"“This is the situation. He (Swamy) is a Z-plus security holder, and nobody is able to protect his house[80]. Anyone can come and throw something,” Gupta said. 

"“But the same documents of Income Tax, fining your people of Rs. 250 crores are later submitted by you people in Delhi High Court against Income Tax,” said Swamy producing the High Court Orders asking Congress party to pay first Rs.10 crore to appeal against Rs.250 crores fine on Young Indian[81], the company owned by Sonia and Rahul. Swamy was aided by his legal team led by wife Roxna Swamy, Ishkaran Bhandari, Yatinder Chaudhary and Dilip Kumar.

"According to legal experts, Congress leaders wanted to cross examine Swamy and drag the case out for a long time in crossing and Swamy’s idea is to bring documents first to cut short the crossing. According to senior lawyers, for the past one year, Sonia and Rahul are objecting tooth and nail on Swamy’s demand for production of documents of Congress balance sheets and accounts of the claim of giving Rs.90 crores to National Herald newspaper publishing firm Associated Journals and money flow to Young Indian[82]. Now Income Tax has found that Congress claim of funding AJL was a total lie and the object of Young Indian floating by Sonia and Rahul was to dubiously acquire the land assets worth more than Rs.2000 crores owned by the Associated Journals Limited."

................................................................................................

"With BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Congress lawyers of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi sparring over the production of documents in the National Herald case, the trial Court has reserved for passing orders on this crucial matter in the case for May 26. On Monday, Swamy insisted that all the documents he sought in the case were produced by Sonia Gandhi in Supreme Court and she must either admit or deny it and can’t delay the process by frivolous arguments.

"“As per main accused Sonia Gandhi’s affidavit all the originals are with her and she produced the copy of these documents. I am having her certified copy. And I also produced the photocopy of the Income Tax Assessment Order putting fine on Young Indian of Rs.249 crores. They also produced the same copy before the High Court and the High Court had asked them to pay Rs.10 crores for entertaining appeal. Now they have to just admit or deny these documents before this Court, rather than wasting time of this court,” said Swamy provoking Congress lawyers by insisting on terming Sonia Gandhi as accused."

What else did they wish an accused person in court to be called? 

................................................................................................

"Swamy’s arguments were vehemently objected by Congress lawyers R S Cheema and Rebecca John who accused Swamy of delaying the process with frivolous demands. “Most of them are photocopies and there is a lot of mischief in the petitions,” they said, arguing that Swamy’s petition for documents lacks merit.

"Swamy said that he will also file to get certified copies of other accused filed documents in the Supreme Court. “Photocopy or not photocopy. Why can’t you admit or deny it? The originals are with you only,” said Swamy.

"After 30 minutes of arguments, counter and cross-cross arguments, the Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted for May 26 to pass Orders on the matter."

................................................................................................

"The two-year-long fierce arguments and counter-arguments for production of documents in the National Herald case between BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Congress leadership came to an end on Saturday, with the Special Court ordering for examination of petitioner Swamy from July 21 and allowing him to produce the documents and summoning of officials to authenticate it. Meanwhile, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal rejected Swamy’s demand for admit or deny by the main accused Sonia Gandhi on the documents produced by him. The newly formed designated court for the trial of MPs and MLAs was also ordered to complete the trial in the politically sensitive case to be finished within a year.

"Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were vehemently objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents from 2016. Earlier, the trial court had ordered for production of documents in January 2016 and High Court has quashed the order citing that the trial court did not hear the version of the accused before passing the order. After this Swamy’s fresh petition for summoning documents were rejected by the court, citing that the demand was very vague and for a large number of documents and not specific.

"Later Swamy made another petition under Section 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for the admission or denial of documents by the accused, citing that the same documents he wanted were already produced by Sonia Gandhi in the Supreme Court. This was considered as a goof-up by Congress lawyers when Delhi High Court upheld the summoning of Congress leaders in December 2015. To prevent the trial, the lawyers approached the Supreme Court and in haste attached many documents which were self-incriminating, say legal experts. They say Swamy filed a petition under Section 294 of CrPC to put Sonia Gandhi in a tight spot. If she admits these documents, she herself admitted the case and if she denies, then perjury case can be filed, they add.

................................................................................................

"“The contention of the complainant is that these are the documents of accused themselves as they were filed along with the Special Leave Petition filed by one of the accused (Sonia Gandhi) in Supreme Court. Be that as it may, this will not give a right to the complainant to get these copies mandatorily admitted or denied by the accused. None of the accused are stated to be the author of any of these documents. The purpose of Section 294 is to truncate the trial, but this does not mean that rules of evidence can be compromised with,” said the Order dismissing Swamy’s demand.

"Observing delay for more than two years in the trial, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal said that after his examination, Swamy can produce the documents and its authenticity can be verified by summoning the concerned officials. Apart from the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited and Young Indian firm’s documents, Swamy wanted authentication of crucial Income Tax Order indicting Sonia and Rahul owned firm Young Indian for hushing up the taxable income of Rs.415 crores and fining of Rs.249 crores.

................................................................................................

"This Income Tax Assessment Order clearly exposes the fraud committed by the top Congress leadership in grabbing the Rs.5000 crores worth land assets and buildings of Associates Journals Limited (AJL) spread across in many cities across the country. The Delhi High Court recently ordered that Young Indian should deposit Rs.10 crores if they wanted to appeal against the Income Tax fine of Rs.249 crores. The IT Order also exposed that Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crores loan to AJL was totally wrong.

"“In these circumstances, keeping in view of the fact that the trial is getting delayed, it has to be put back on the right track. Therefore, in order to streamline this trial, it is directed that the complainant shall first examine himself as the first witness of the prosecution and shall lay the foundation of his case. Thereafter, the witnesses, officials or otherwise to prove the documents by with the complainant further want to prove his case shall be summoned,” said the Special Court, fast-tracking the politically sensitive case."

................................................................................................

"With the petitioner Subramanian Swamy on Saturday starting to submit evidence, the politically sensitive National Herald case entered a critical stage. Several times a battery of lawyers for the Congress were objecting to the points submitted by Swamy when he was giving oral evidence by stating the crux of the case before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Samar Vishal.

"Swamy informed the Court that he came to know about the irregularities in running the National Herald newspaper publisher company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) from the late journalist Bhushan Raina, who was the union leader of journalists who worked at the newspaper. Raina told him that journalists were facing salary dues from 2008 onwards.

"During the 2011 period, Swamy said he came to know that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi floated the controversial firm Young Indian. He pointed out that he got curious when Young Indian, a small firm with a capital of just five lakh rupees acquired Associated Journals Limited, a firm of 71 years of working with huge land assets across the country. Swamy said that he also noticed that Passport Office and Tata Consultancy office boards also at the Herald House, located in the Press Enclave Area, ITO in Delhi.

"Swamy pointed out that as per the landmark Supreme Court judgment Indian Express Vs Union of India, this Press Enclave Area is allotted to newspaper publishing firms by the Government at a very subsidised rate. “Therefore, I tried to make enquires, how Herald House belonging to AJL (Associated Journal Limited) could be renting out the premises directly or indirectly to non-newspaper, commercial or government offices,” he said.

................................................................................................

"The petition also said the second accused and Congress President Rahul Gandhi in an email query to Pioneer newspaper journalist J Gopikrishnan wrote that they have no plans to revive National Herald newspaper. Swamy’s this submission was objected to by the Congress lawyers, arguing that his point is objected on the ground of admissibility.

"“Thereafter, I made further enquiries and found that the method by which AJL ended up as a subsidiary of Young Indian (YI) was most curious,” said Swamy. This was also objected to by the Congress lawyers saying this was only an opinion of Swamy. The BJP leader countered that he would produce all the documents in the end after submitting his statements as evidence.

"Another submission of Swamy accused that Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are “undeniably close advisors” of the main accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were vehemently objected to by the Congress lawyers, saying this was only Swamy’s opinion.

"Swamy stated that with just five lakh capital, the newly floated firm Young Indian had acquired 99.1% of the AJL by a claim of settlement by Young Indian of dues of Rs.90 crores by AJL to Congress party. He said this is the crux of the cheating and conspiracy charges in his case and he will produce all documentary evidence to all the submission of evidence made by him. After the 30 minutes-long submission, the Court posted the next hearing for the continuation of evidence to August 25.  After Swamy’s submission of evidence, he will be cross-examined in length by a battery of Congress lawyers led by Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi representing all the seven accused."

................................................................................................

"The accused Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Motilal Vora filed a petition to restrain the “uncontrollable” petitioner Subramanian Swamy from tweeting about the National Herald case matters. The Congress lawyers filed the petition on Saturday during the starting day of submission of evidence by Swamy in the main case. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal expressed disinterest on the petition first and later asked Swamy to file his views of this petition.

"The petition attached photocopies of many tweets of Swamy calling Sonia as TDK (short form for Devil Tadaka character in Ramayan) and calling Rahul Gandhi as Buddhu (foolish guy). The Congress leaders said that Swamy has crossed all levels in freedom of expression and tweeting of the case matters is sub-judice.

"“That the Applicant has time and again noticed that the complainant has been putting various posts in Social Media regarding the daily proceedings of the instant case for purpose of causing defamation of the accused and vilification of court process... Complainant (Swamy) has been indulging in loud and persistent publicity amounting to an interference with the administration of justice. Before and after every date of hearing he unleashes hostile publicity through tweets, posts in Social Media and/ or statements to the media,” said Congress leaders demanding restraining Swamy from tweeting about the National Herald case.

"The accused Congress leaders said that Swamy’s tweets are detrimental to their rights to a fair trial. “The freedom of expression is an important right, but such a right is not absolute in as much as the Constitution itself, while it grants the freedom under Article 19(1)(a), permitted the legislature to impose reasonable restriction on the right, in the interests of various matters, one of which is the fair administration of justice as protected by Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. Moreover, when the matter is sub-judice, the complainant Swamy) has no right to comment on the day-to-day proceedings and transgress the settled parameters of fair trial,” said the three-page petition attaching photocopies of many Swamy’s tweets on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

................................................................................................

"The petition also pointed out that Swamy had tweeted about the Rs.250 crores Income Tax fine on Young Indian. Congress lawyers argued that this was wrong on the part of Swamy to place the Income Tax documents, which were later kept in a sealed cover. The lawyers also produced Swamy’s Tweeting PGurus article on this regard[83].

"Earlier in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court also the Congress lawyers produced several tweets of Swamy to argue that Swamy maintains personal vendetta and animosity against Sonia and Rahul.  Judges did not entertain the production of the tweets. This is the first time Congress leaders file a petition on this regard.

"Coming out from Court, Swamy said that these people (Sonia and Rahul) are still in Emergency mindset and he will give a fitting reply. Within minutes Swamy went ahead, showing his anger by tweeting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should go for medical checkup after Rahul Gandhi’s dramatic hugging inside the Lok Sabha on Friday. He said there would be chances of poisoning though hugging while keeping hidden syringe."

Alarming possibility indeed, and glad he's safe so far. 

Author gives the said tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy in a photographic format. 

"Earlier in 2011, UPA Government filed a similar petition to restrain Swamy during the 2G cases before the Supreme Court. The Government produced newspaper clippings of Subramanian Swamy’s speeches about sending Sonia Gandhi to jail and urging Italian foods in the menu of jails. The Judges dismissed the petition with a smile after the argument of Central Government’s lawyer P P Rao, who repeatedly sought “need of some sort of restriction on this person” who has no limits."

................................................................................................

"In a further confirmation of illegalities in the National Herald case, the Urban Development Ministry has issued a notice to take over the Herald House, the headquarters of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), publisher of the now-defunct National Herald newspaper. The notice was issued to the AJL, who got the land for publishing newspaper at subsidised rates. The Ministry’s action came after its probe team found that the Herald House and premises allotted in the Press Enclave in ITO, Delhi was not being used for the publication of a newspaper for the past 10 years, which is a violation of the allotment rules.

"For the past eight years, the holders of the building (literally the firm Young Indian (YI) controlled by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) were earning more than Rs.80 lakhs ($117,000) per month by renting out two floors of the building to Passport Seva Kendra.

"In the last week of December 2017, the Income Tax department has fined Rs.250 crores ($36.5 million) on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi controlled firm Young Indian, which took over AJL in “covert and fraudulent” ways. A few months back, Delhi High Court had ordered YI to deposit Rs.10 crores for entertaining its appeal against the Income Tax fine order[84].

................................................................................................

"According to highly placed sources in the Urban Development Ministry, two months back a probe team had inspected the premises of Herald House and found that no newspaper publishing activity was happening for the past 10 years. The plot for Herald House was allotted in the mid-50s at a very subsidised rates for publication of newspaper by AJL like other media organisations in the Press Enclave Area. As per the lease agreement with the Government, AJL was expected to return the place as and when it stopped newspaper publication.

"In a similar way, prime lands were allotted for the publication of National Herald across the country. The lands were allotted at very cheap rates in Lucknow, Patna, Mumbai, Panchkula, Bhopal, Indore and all these land allotments are facing probes by various state governments.

................................................................................................

"Urban Development Ministry was acting on the complaint filed by the main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. After Swamy’s expose, the Ministry has received several complaints of similar violations against many other buildings in the Press Enclave Area and probe teams would be asked to conduct investigation and details of the illegal holders of the premises in the garb of newspaper publication[85].

"In the trial court, the National Herald case is now during the process of submission of evidence by the petitioner Subramanian Swamy, who has started his deposition on July 21. The next hearing is scheduled for August 25. The accused Congress leaders also filed a petition in the court for restraining Swamy from tweeting about the case details and defaming them[86]."

................................................................................................

"The Delhi High Court on Wednesday denied relief to Congress President Rahul Gandhi from restraining Income Tax for reassessing his Income Tax return of 2011-2012, for hiding his Directorship in Young Indian in the National Herald case. After slapping a fine of Rs.250 crores on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi firm Young Indian in December 2017, for hushing up the Rs.414 crores income in 2011, the Income Tax found that Rahul Gandhi hushed up his Directorship in Young Indian in tax returns as well.

"Income Tax served notice on Rahul Gandhi for re-assessing his Income Tax return of 2011-2012 in March 2018 and he approached the Delhi High Court for quashing the Income Tax move accusing them of coercion. However, the Judges declined to give relief. The Court also rejected Rahul’s demand to ban media from reporting the Income Tax procedures in the National Herald case.

................................................................................................

"The bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla listed the matter for further hearing on August 14, after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta opposed issuance of any interim order by the court. The ASG, however, assured the bench that till the next date, no coercive step would be taken against Rahul by the tax department.

"Rahul’s lawyers led by Arvind Datar argued that they had received no income from Young Indian and sought an interim order from the court as the case related to the assessment is listed in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on Thursday (August 9).

"Here the interesting fact is that the National Herald scam was exposed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on November 1, 2012. This shows that during the filing of his Income Tax Returns of 2011-2012, Rahul cleverly hid his Directorship of his then secret firm Young Indian, floated to covertly acquire the entire assets of defunct newspaper National Herald.

................................................................................................

"According to the tax department, Rahul's assessment for the years 2011-12 was decided to be reopened as he did not disclose that he was a director in the company -- Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI) - since 2010.

"As per the tax department, the shares Rahul has in YI would lead him to have an income of Rs.154 crores and not about Rs.68 lakhs, as was assessed by it earlier.

"The department has in the instant case applied section 147 of the Income Tax Act, which provides for bringing under the tax net any income which has escaped assessment in the original assessment.

"Rahul’s lawyers said the query put to their client during the scrutiny of his assessment was whether he had any interest in any company or sister concern in which he was a director and he had replied in the negative as YI was a Section 25 company, a non-profit entity, and hence no director would have any interest in it. To this, the bench remarked, “in which event, it is a nice conduit.”

"The tax department has already issued a demand notice for around Rs.250 crores to YI for the assessment year 2011-12. Delhi High Court in March 2018 has already ordered Young Indian to deposit Rs.10 crores if they wanted to appeal against the Income Tax fine of Rs.250 crores[87]."

................................................................................................

"Like son Rahul[88], mother Sonia Gandhi is also caught by the Income Tax Department for hiding the Directorship of National Herald in their tax returns and evasion of taxable income of Rs.154 crores ($23 million). Accusing Income Tax department of coercive actions, Congress former President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that they did not earn any income in the Young Indian- National Herald newspaper deal. Congress leader and lawyer P Chidambaram argued for Sonia Gandhi on her petition against the Income Tax order to reassess her annual tax return of 2011-2012 for not disclosing the Directorship in the Young Indian, a company floated to take over the newspaper publishing firm Associated Journals in late 2010. Apart from Sonia Gandhi, another Director and Congress leader Oscar Fernandez also filed a similar petition in the case before the bench hearing Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s petition on the same matter.

"Like her son, Sonia Gandhi also requested the court to ban the media from reporting on the Income Tax related issues in the National Herald case. The Court rejected the demand reiterated by Chidambaram on behalf of Sonia Gandhi. The Bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla posted the case to August 16 for further hearing. Arguing for more than an hour, Chidambaram said that even if there was taxable income, it would not go into the hands of Young Indian’s shareholders like the former Congress President, who owns 38 percent of the firm. Rahul Gandhi also has 38 percent shares in the firm. Oscar Fernandez and Motilal Vora have 12 percent shares each.

"After hearing part arguments, when the court said it will issue a formal notice, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta said there was no need for it as he was present in the court. The court, thereafter, listed the matter for further hearing on August 16, when the ASG will argue in defence of the action taken by the tax department.

................................................................................................

"The court said that once it reserved its judgment on the conclusion of the arguments, it will ask the tax department not to take any coercive steps till the verdict was pronounced. The bench also did not issue any order restraining the reporting of contents of the petitions filed on behalf of Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and party leader Oscar Fernandez.

"The Gandhis and Fernandes have challenged the reopening of their tax assessment for the year 2011-12 in March this year. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Rahul Gandhi, said that arguments during the hearing may be reported and urged the court to order that confidentiality be maintained regarding the contents of the petitions.

"However, the bench declined to issue any such direction saying “we cannot go into all this” as it would be akin to going on a “wild-goose chase” as it was not known who reports contents of the matter and who is the source of the information.

................................................................................................

"As per the department, the shares Rahul and Sonia have in Young Indian would lead them to have an income of Rs 154 crores each. During his arguments, Chidambaram accused Income Tax of relying on the complaints filed by Subramanian Swamy, without taking his name throughout his arguments.

"Chidambaram contended, “when debt is converted to equity, it does not result in any income and, even if it does, it would not result in income for the shareholder.” He said that even if it was accepted that income was generated, “it cannot be the income of YI and its shareholders in the same assessment year of 2011-12.”

"He also argued that the tax department has “incorrectly invoked and applied” the formula for calculating the tax liability of Sonia Gandhi when her assessment for 2011-12 was reopened. Chidambaram said that when his client became a shareholder of Young Indian, she received nothing else, not even property, except 1,900 shares in the company.

................................................................................................

"He also termed as “incorrect” the tax department's claim that Rs 90 crores loaned to AJL, leading to the debt, was bogus or paper loan, saying this is not correct as the amount was loaned through 137 cheques issued over a 9-10-year period.”

"Among other objections raised by him against the reopening of the assessment was that the communication sent to his client informing about the development was not digitally signed. The assessment was reopened in March 2018 on the orders of a senior officer who was monitoring the case from 2014, he said.

"Meanwhile, in the trial court, Subramanian Swamy’s deposition and submission of documents will continue August 25[89]. In the trial court, the Congress leaders also demanded for restraining Swamy from Tweeting about the case. “I will give them a befitting reply,” said Swamy[90]."

................................................................................................

"The details of more frauds committed by the Gandhi family in grabbing the National Herald newspaper’s headquarters Herald House are exposed in the probe conducted by the Urban Development Ministry. The Show Cause Notice issued to the National Herald newspaper publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL) reveals that the staffers also lied to the Ministry’s probe team about the lease allotment details being changed again, by UPA Government controlled by Sonia Gandhi in January 2013.

"The Urban Development Ministry started probe on the complaint filed by BJP leader and petitioner Subramanian Swamy on March 2018 urging the Government to take back the Herald House from AJL for violating the land lease conditions. The details of the Show Cause Notice reveal that more than half acre land in the much coveted Press Enclave Area in ITO, New Delhi was allotted for publication of National Herald newspaper for just around Rs.50000 in 1962.

................................................................................................

"The allotment was for printing and publication activities of newspapers and Government allotted the prime land for an extremely low price. In 1967, Government allowed the newspapers to rent out the higher-level floors while maintaining ground and first floor for newspaper publishing activities. This decision was taken after the hectic lobbying by newspaper barons for getting some revenue from renting out the higher floors of the building for commercial purposes. Except for hotel, cinema, and restaurant business, the higher floors were allowed for other business as per the dilution of the lease agreements approved by the Urban Ministry in 1967.

"This rule was further diluted on January 7, 2013, by the UPA Government on the request of AJL. It must be remembered that this dilution happened two months after Subramanian Swamy exposed the National Herald scam on November 1, 2012. In mid-2011, after Sonia – Rahul controlled firm Young Indian covertly took over the AJL, the first two floors were rented out to Passport Seva Kendra related operations for a huge monthly rent of Rs.80 lakhs.

................................................................................................

"“On request of AJL, vide letter dated 7-1-2013 the clause 7 of the perpetual lease was further modified to the extent that instead of basement and 1st floor, basement and any one floor of the building are required to be used for press and offices of the lesse,” said the two-page Show Cause Notice to AJL detailing the violations.

"Further, in order to confirm the present status of the activities in the premises, a three-member committee comprising officers from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs was formed to inspect the premises on the 9th of April 2018. The Committee observed that no printing press was functioning at any floor of the premises (Herald House) and no paper stock was found anywhere. However, 4th floor was stated to be used by the AJL for their press related office. As informed by AJL officials, the printing of the weekly being published by them takes place in the printing press of Indian Express at Noida. The Committee was also made available newspapers which it has started publishing again on the 24th of September 2017. When enquired whether the paper was being published before the 24th of September 2017, it was informed that the publishing was earlier stopped, and employees were given Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) due to the poor financial condition of the company. As there was no printing activity seen anywhere in the entire premises, it implies that the premises are not being used for the purpose for which the land was allotted. i. e. running of press and the terms and conditions of the lease agreement are not being adhered to.

................................................................................................

"“It was observed by the inspecting team that most of the areas of the premises have been rented out. If the premises are not being used for the primary use of printing press and related purpose, the renting out of the premises itself becomes misuse of allotted land,” said the Show Cause Notice directing AJL to reply within 30 days, invoking takeover of the building for violations.

"From the above Show Cause Notice, it is evident that the new launch of weekly by National Herald (which was a daily newspaper earlier till April 2008) in September 2017 was just a fraud to save the thousands of crores worth properties grabbed by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi firm Young Indian. The irony is that many pliable journalists joined to work in the namesake weekly launched, while forgetting the humongous fraud of looting the Rs.5000-crores-worth land and building assets of the National Herald newspaper by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi."

................................................................................................

"BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday produced authenticated Income Tax department’s assessment order against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi controlled firm Young Indian in the trial court as his evidence. Congress leaders’ lawyers objected vehemently when Swamy produced the 200 plus page Income Tax order which imposed fine on Young Indian of Rs.250 crores for hushing up the taxable income of Rs.415 crores earned through the acquisition of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of National Herald newspaper in 2011.

"Congress leaders’ lawyers R S Cheema and Rebecca John argued that the production of Income Tax documents is “beyond the pleading.” During his second day of deposition, Swamy submitted the Income Tax order in a sealed cover with a covering letter from Income Tax authorities to the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal. Producing the document as his evidence, Swamy said that the Income Tax findings clearly says that Congress claim of Rs.90 crores to AJL was a total lie and non-existent one. This lie was floated to take over the AJL by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi by floating Young Indian.

"“My investigations into the claim of AJL revealed that the AJL claimed to have received Rs.90 crores as loan from AICC has not been substantiated by either the account books of AJL or the of the Congress party. This was investigated by the Income Tax authorities and they had rejected the claim that such a loan was received by AJL from the AICC,” said Swamy while producing the Income Tax authenticated assessment order.

................................................................................................

"The previous week, P Chidambaram appearing on behalf of Sonia Gandhi claimed that Rs.90 crores was paid to AJL by Congress through 137 cheques during the past 10 years from 2004. The Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta countered that this was a bogus claim and was not yet supported by any documents and both parties have not proved this, though Income Tax gave them sufficient time.

"After the arguments and counterarguments on the acceptability of the Income Tax Order, the Magistrate observed that court can check the authenticity of the document by summoning the signatories of the officials in the submitted documents. In his one hour long second day of pieces of evidence, Swamy also produced documents of Congress claim of Rs.90 crores loan. This document was earlier submitted by Sonia Gandhi in Supreme Court, challenging the summons of the trial court in 2015. Countering the objections of Congress lawyers, Swamy said that he was only submitting the documents submitted by “you people” in the Supreme Court.

"He also produced the documents of AJL’s resolution by issuing its 99.1 percent shares to Young Indian and claiming that none of the AJL’s directors have interest in Young Indian’s Board. But all the AJL Directors Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda became the Directors Young Indian, said Swamy. The Congress lawyers objected to most of the documents produced by Swamy even the same leadership in Congress party, AJL and Young Indian. For further evidence, the Court had scheduled the next date on September 17.

"Meanwhile, Motilal Vora again filed a petition against Swamy for tweeting against them and about the case matters."

................................................................................................

"Time has started ticking for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed the pleas of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Oscar Fernandes challenging reopening of their tax assessments for 2011-12. The Income Tax issued orders to re-assess the tax returns, after finding that the Congress leaders did not reveal their directorship in the firm Young Indian, which took over the National Herald newspaper publishing firm Associated Journals Limited (AJL). Dismissing the petitions, the Bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla said that Income Tax has right to issue such orders and directed the petitioners to approach the appropriate forum, if aggrieved by the Income Tax’s order.

"Sonia Gandhi was represented by the former Finance Minister and senior lawyer P Chidambaram and Rahul Gandhi was represented by noted tax lawyer Arvind Datar. Many Congress leaders feel that Chidambaram had gossiped against Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi and got them removed from the National Herald cases.

"The High Court has already rejected the Congress leaders’ demand for restraining media houses from publishing the news related to Income Tax process in the National Herald cases. It is an irony that Chidambaram who nowadays speaks too much on freedom of expression argued for media banning in National Herald case.

................................................................................................

"The Income Tax Department, in December 2017, fined Young Indian for Rs.250 crores for suppressing the taxable income of Rs.414 crores in 2011-2012. PGurus has already detailed the Income Tax Order on this matter[91]. After this Income Tax issued orders in March 2018 for re-assessing the income of the leaders as they had suppressed their directorship in Young Indian.

"The Young Indian was floated in December 2010 and the scam got exposed only when Subramanian Swamy exposed the matter on November 1, 2012. This shows that Sonia and Rahul kept the directorship and floating of Young Indian as a secret and hence did not declare to Income Tax in 2011 & 2012 March Income Tax Returns.

"The High Court had on August 16 reserved its order on the pleas of the three leaders after the Income Tax Department had contended that Rahul Gandhi's tax assessment for 2011-12 was reopened as material facts were concealed. The bench had orally asked the tax department not to take any coercive step against Sonia, Rahul, and Fernandes till pronouncement of its verdict.

................................................................................................

"Appearing for Income Tax Department, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had argued that the Congress leaders had alleged mala fide on the part of the tax department but had not made any averments in this regard. Congress leaders accused Income Tax of “coercing” and acting on the complaints of the BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

"The Income Tax also found that Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crores to AJL was bogus and this was bogus claim was floated to acquire the assets of AJL, which is more than Rs.5000 crores land assets across the country. The tax department had said the shares Rahul has in Young Indian would lead him to have an income of Rs.154 crores and not about Rs.68 lakhs, as assessed earlier.

"Meanwhile, Subramanian Swamy’s submission of evidence is going on in the trial court and the next hearing is posted for September 17. After this, he will be cross-examined by a battery of Congress lawyers."

................................................................................................

"Congress leaders on Saturday demanded interim stay on restraining BJP leader Subramanian Swamy from “derogatory style” of tweeting about the National Herald case and Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.  However, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal did not heed the demands and posted the case for further arguments on October 20, as Swamy sought time to reply.

"The Courtroom was full of fun and the Judge seemed to have enjoyed when Congress lawyers started reading out and produced more than 2000 tweets of Swamy accusing Sonia and Rahul. The Congress leaders lead lawyer R S Cheema said that Swamy is always mentioning Sonia Gandhi as TDK. He said that TDK is short for Tadaka. “Tadaka was Rakshasi (lady demon) who killed many Brahmins and was killed by Lord Rama,” said Cheema, leading to laughter in the courtroom. Cheema cited several times that Swamy was calling his clients as TDK and Buddhu. However, he did not specify who Buddhu is.

"“He is tweeting wildly. Even court procedures were misinterpreted. He is abusing us also. He is calling us Congi lawyers. What is the meaning of this? We are lawyers and not Congi lawyers,” Cheema went on, citing many tweets of Swamy in his 30-minute arguments. However senior lawyers like Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi were not present. There is a rumor in the Congress circles that former Finance Minister P Chidambaram had complained to Sonia Gandhi about the poor performance of his colleagues and got them removed from the case."

They seem to lack brains. 

Congi is obviously short for Congress(I)! So yes, if they defend the half axis DNA family, they are definitely congi lawyers! 

................................................................................................

"After the Congress lawyer’s arguments of more than 30 minutes, Swamy said that he needs time to reply to all these allegations. “Why seeking time? Do you need to tweet again? Within half an hour you will start tweeting,” Cheema commented when Judge posted the case to October 20. Judge did not heed to the Congress demand of interim stay. He was seen most of the time enjoying with a smile when the lawyers were reading out Swamy’s “derogatory” tweets.

"Coming out from the court, Swamy told the media that on October 20, he will give a fitting reply to the Congress leadership, who is nowadays talking too much on freedom of expression. ... "

Author gives another tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy, again in photographic format. This one describes the session in Patiala Court as :interesting and enjoyable", and promises a fitting response at the next session of the Court, "which will (be) even more interesting and enjoyable"! 

................................................................................................

"Subramanian Swamy’s efforts to cleanse southern states’ politics has started yielding results. Tamil Nadu politics minus Chidambaram’s (PC) influence will be ethical and healthy. Swamy’s long legal battle with PC & his corrupt family is reaching its logical conclusion. In fact, Congresspeople should thank Dr. Swamy for prosecuting corrupt PC so that the Grand Old Party can be liberated from the maximum corrupt practices promoted by Chidambaram since he became a power centre in the party. Chidambaram was the architect and author of all the mega scams in India namely 2G, Coal, Non-Performing Assets (NPA) scam, Aircel Maxis, NDTV, Vasan Eye Care, Saradha Scam, Forex derivates scam[95], Airbus scandal to name a few that rocked the nation.

"It was Subramanian Swamy in August 2018, who unlocked the clandestine relationship between PC, Ahmed Patel with Congress party’s Karnataka money bag D K Shivakumar and handed over the evidence to investigative agencies leading to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registering case against DK recently[96]. IT department has already collected enough evidence against this agent of PC and Ahmed Patel who with his set of conduits’ operated cash collection for his Delhi bosses.  Incidentally, the set of information regarding the corrupt trio was provided to Swamy by a rival group of disgruntled Congress leaders unhappy with the JD(S)-Congress party alliance to form the collation government.  A stream of classified information is flowing now due to the vertical spilt in the Congress party that includes information on the controversial Govind Raju diary wherein the Income Tax (IT) department has raised demand from the tainted Congress MLC.

................................................................................................

"With the seizure of the Rs.54 crores-worth properties of Karti Chidambaram, there is a huge unrest in the entire Congress party. The imminent action that was stalled by certain forces in the government seems to have been broken by the Prime Minister’s (PM) interference on the specific complaint made by Subramanian Swamy to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The Congress leaders and associates likely to be prosecuted are P Chidambaram & family, Robert Vadra, Ahmed Patel, BS Hooda, DK Shivakumar, and Virbhadra Singh. In the National Herald case, Swamy has shown the Indian courts to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and now they are also facing Income Tax notices. Modi government has yielded to the advice of Swamy to fast-track investigations against the Congress leadership so that BJP can go to the 2019 elections with the conviction that they have delivered on the election promise of dealing with corruption head-on.  PMO has instructed the investigative agencies to fast-track pending investigation to bring confidence in the common masses, and this is sure to bring floating votes back to the BJP.

"Swamy has vowed to track down all the White-Collar criminals to cleanse the politics. After hunting down Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case, P Chidambaram & family in multiple corruption cases, BS Hooda in HUDA case, DK Shivakumar in Hawala case linked to AP & PC, Swamy is likely to push for the prosecution of the culprits in the court of law."

Heaven grant his success in this!

................................................................................................

"Karnataka and Tamil Nadu politics will likely witness a tremendous structural change in the next few days. Subramanian Swamy is a man in a hurry to convict the Netas who have looted the country and they are responsible for the entire mess in the country including poverty, Naxalism, poor health care and disastrous education system, and a poor justice system. According to his own words, “Corruption in India is the biggest cause of misery for millions for native Indians and I have taken a pledge to wipe it off from the country with or without the support of the government machinery.”

"Apart from corruption cases, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are eagerly looking to Swamy’s legal battles to free Tirupati Temple and many temples in Kerala from Government’s control. It is a known fact that temple money is being diverted for other purposes."

Heaven grant him success!

................................................................................................

"Giving a surprise to Congress lawyers, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy started his counter-arguments in the National Herald case tweeting controversy by demanding authentication of his more than 2000 tweets submitted by the accused leaders. “You have demanded authenticated or certified copy when I submitted the copy of Income Tax Orders against you. You people even demanded when I submitted the copy of Sonia’s Gandhi’s affidavit in Supreme Court served to me. That time you demanded me to comply with the provisions of Evidence Act. Now you must also adhere to those provisions of Evidence Act.

"“I don’t know you have committed perjury or changes in my 2000 tweets photocopy produced by you. So, you must also get authentication from Twitter,” said Swamy starting his counterarguments, seeking dismissal of the petition filed by accused Motilal Vora, seeking to restrain tweeting about National Herald case matters.

"This argument of Swamy has confused the Congress lawyers as there are no prescribed rules on how to authenticate a tweet. Swamy did not agree to Congress lawyers’ suggestions on proof on downloading. As Twitter is a US-based firm, the real authentication has to come from US Department of Justice, says legal experts, adding that this is still a grey area in Indian laws.

................................................................................................

"Putting an end to the criss-cross arguments, Additional Chief Magistrate Samar Vishal asked Swamy to continue his arguments on the merits of the petition filed by Congress leaders. “They assume, TDK and Buddhu, I meant is about Sonia and Rahul. I have no objection on that and let them assume whatever it is. I am making comments on social media and nothing to do with obstruction of justice in this case. Have I said against the honourable and learned Judge? Their arguments that I interfere in the administration of justice or sub judice and all are totally wrong,” said Swamy reiterating the dismissal of “frivolous” petition.

"The Congress lawyers also objected to Swamy’s mentioning in Twitter as “Congi Lawyers.” “What do you mean by Congi?” asked agitated lead lawyer R S Cheema. Ridiculing Congress lawyers, Swamy said he described them as Congi lawyers as they represent Congress (Indira) faction leaders. “It is my opinion.”

"“We have not called you Sanghi complainant. We are professionals. We don’t belong to a party,” said Cheema. “There are a lot of Congress factions. I, O, S, A. In short form these people are known as Congi and as you represent them, you are known as Congi lawyers,” Swamy retorted, reiterating Congi is a not a defamatory word. He also produced various judgments upholding freedom of expression, seeking dismissal of the petition of Congress leaders.

................................................................................................

"Putting an end to the heated exchanges, the Judge reserved for Orders on this regard on November 17. He also said that the crossing of Swamy by Congress lawyers in the main case will also start on November 17, as the earlier fixed day October 27 is a holiday.

"“You (Swamy) will enjoy when you are in the cross, you'll see the real Cheema that day,” said Advocate Cheema, while the Judge pronouncing the next day hearing."

................................................................................................

"Step-by-step, drip-by-drip, the long arm of the law has started catching up with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald fraud. The Urban Development Ministry issued notice to the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) to vacate Herald House in Delhi by November 15, citing violations in the allotment and illegal usage of the building. In the evening Congress leadership rushed to Delhi High Court and the case is posted for tomorrow (November 13)."

................................................................................................

"Covert acquisition by Shell companies 

"AJL had stopped publishing the newspaper National Herald and other two papers in Hindi and Urdu in 2008 and the public limited company is now covertly acquired in 2010 by a shell firm called Young Indian, floated by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with 76 percent share ownership. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in 2016, filed a complaint to Urban Development Ministry to take over the Herald House, citing the blatant violations and illegalities in the garb of journalism[97].

"From 2011, after the takeover of AJL by the shell firm floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Herald House was rented out to Passport Seva Kendra and the controllers of this prime property were getting Rs.80 lakhs per month.

................................................................................................

"The plea of AJL, challenging the Urban Development Ministry ending the lease and asking it to vacate the premises by November 15, is scheduled to come up for a hearing Tuesday before Justice Sunil Gaur.

"The plea alleged that the Land and Development Office's order was “illegal, unconstitutional, arbitrary, tainted with malafide and without authority and jurisdiction.”

................................................................................................

"The petition, filed through advocates Sunil Fernandes and Priyansha Indra Sharma, said that the Centre has warned them of action under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 if they failed to vacate the premises. One of the grounds mentioned in the L&DO order is that no press has been functioning in the premises for last at least 10 years and that it is being used only for commercial purposes in violation of the lease deed.

"After Subramanian Swamy’s case and after the bail of Sonia and Rahul in December 2015, the Congress leadership started a website of National Herald to fool the law. The Congress leadership also published once in a while some supplements of National Herald to maintain the Herald House, which is expected to be worth more than Rs.1000 crores. Some pliable journalists were also appointed to pretend as if there was newspaper activity."

................................................................................................

"The fast-track court handling National Herald case on Monday dismissed senior Congress leader Motilal Vora's plea seeking to restrain complainant Subramanian Swamy from tweeting about the case and “derogatory language”, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal rejected Vora's plea, also an accused in the case, saying there was nothing to show that the tweets caused any damage to the trial of the case or any prejudice to the court.

"It is interesting to note that Sonia and Rahul never filed a complaint against Swamy’s tweeting, though all the produced tweets by Vora were attacking mother and son. Vora, in his application, had alleged that Swamy was trying to influence the court proceedings with his tweets. He also accused Swamy of using derogatory language against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi often in the social media platform. The court said the tweets cited by Vora “cannot be said to interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice nor can be said to prejudice the due course of any judicial proceedings, firstly because no such instance due to which the applicant can say this has either been stated in the application, nor has been put forth in the argument.”

"It is interesting to note that Sonia and Rahul never filed a complaint against Swamy’s tweeting, though all the produced tweets by Vora were attacking mother and son. Vora, in his application, had alleged that Swamy was trying to influence the court proceedings with his tweets. He also accused Swamy of using derogatory language against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi often in the social media platform. The court said the tweets cited by Vora “cannot be said to interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice nor can be said to prejudice the due course of any judicial proceedings, firstly because no such instance due to which the applicant can say this has either been stated in the application, nor has been put forth in the argument.”

"“The trial is going on and has reached at the stage of evidence, and I am unable to find anything on record nor anything has been put forth to show that these tweets may have caused any damage to the trial or any prejudice to the court,” the judge said. It said “a court cannot prohibit any person from reporting the proceedings of a case unless it is shown that the reporting is patently and malafidely false.

"“The tweets may not be happily worded from the point of view of the applicant or other accused, but how they interfere in the administration of justice or are prejudicial to the defence of the accused is not clear,” the court said, posting cross-examination of Swamy in the main case to January 11.

................................................................................................

"Earlier in his arguments, Swamy said that apart from the principles of freedom of speech, the tweets (more than 2000) produced by Congress lawyers must be certified. He said the lawyers demanded certification when he produced Income Tax documents and company records of Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited. Congress lawyers also accused Swamy of abusing them on Twitter by calling them “Congi lawyers”[98]. During their arguments, Congress lawyers said that Swamy often used to call Sonia Gandhi as TDK, which means the devil Tadaka of Ramayan. Interestingly the lawyers never raised Swamy’s tweets calling Rahul Gandhi as Buddhu.

"Reacting to the Court order, Swamy thanked his lawyers Ishkaran Bhandari, Dilip Kumar, Ramni Taneja and his advocate wife Roxna Swamy. He said that after the starting of his cross-examination from January 11, he would demand for a daily hearing in the National Herald case from February."

................................................................................................

"Trouble is brewing for the Gandhis in the National Herald case. Weeks after the acquisition notice of its headquarters Herald House in Delhi, by the Union Urban Development Ministry (UDM), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached its swanky office in Panchkula, illegally allotted by Haryana Government under the Congress regime. The central probe agency said that it issued a provisional order of attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on December 1, the day the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others for allegedly using fraudulent means to allot the land to Associate Journals Limited (AJL).

"“Since the value of plot fraudulently allotted to AJL has represented proceeds of crime, the ED has attached the plot under PMLA Act,” the agency said in a statement. The plot has been attached under Section 5 of the PMLA (attachment of property involved in money laundering) and further investigation is in process, it said.

................................................................................................

"Reacting to the development main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy congratulated ED and said that he would pursue with Maharashtra Government on the illegal allotment of land in Bandra to National Herald publisher Associated Journals Limited. The State Government had already formed a committee to probe into the irregularities. Finding a series of frauds in the land allotment and usage, the Committee recommended the takeover by the state government and initiating action against the AJL.

"The ED said Hooda, as the then CM, “misused his official position by dishonestly and fraudulently allotting the said plot to AJL afresh in the guise of re-allotment at the rates prevalent in 1982 (Rs 91 per sqm) plus interest despite the fact that the cancellation of allotment of the plot had earlier attained finality and it could not legally be re-allotted.” It added that the re-allotment of the plot in 2005 “unjustly benefitted” AJL.

................................................................................................

"The agency said its probe found that Hooda “granted undue extensions thrice to AJL for construction of the said plot and after acquisition of the said plot projected it as untainted property and further acquired loans from the bank by way of mortgaging the same from tie to time.” The CBI chargesheet, filed in a Panchkula court on December 1, named Congress leader Motilal Vora besides Hooda in connection with the alleged irregularities in the re-allotment of the plot.

"Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court previous week reserved for orders in the petition filed by AJL against the eviction notice issued by the Union Urban Development Ministry. In the main case, the trial court has scheduled the case to January 11 and cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by accused Congress leaders will start on that day."

................................................................................................

"In a huge setback to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the eviction of Herald House, the headquarters of National Herald newspaper within two weeks, dismissing the petition filed by the publisher Associated Journals Limited(AJL).  Finding no irregularity in the Urban Development Ministry’s Land and Development Office (L & DO) notice, the judgment said that there was total violation in the lease agreement by the publisher who was holding the building for the past 56 years and also said that the AJL’s takeover by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi floated new firm Young Indian was also “questionable” “modus operandi.”

"“The ‘subject premises’ was leased out to legendary AJL for its publication, but the dominant purpose is now practically lost. This Court is constrained to observe that major portion of the ‘subject premises’ has been rented out and petitioners’ newspaper, which was to be housed originally in the basement and ground floor, has now been shifted on the top floor with hardly any ‘press activity,” said the 17-page judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur.

................................................................................................

"“This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi to acquire 99% of AJL’s share speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable,” said the judgment. At present AJL, which is literally owned by Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian is earning around Rs.80 lakhs per month from 2011 by renting out two floors to Passport Seva Kendra.

"Observing that there was no wrong in eviction notice, the judgment also said that petitioner’s contention that the Government move was to erase, efface and defame the legacy of Pandit Nehru was not at all acceptable. “One fails to understand as to how the ruling dispensation has in any way erased, effaced, or defamed Pt. Nehru… the allegations of malafide leveled by petitioners are bald and unspecific and so, no note of these allegations taken,” said the judgment."

................................................................................................

"The AJL approached the High Court after the L & DO issued eviction notice on October 30, based on the complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy, BJP leader and petitioner in the main case. AJ was represented by Congress leader and noted lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and Government was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The court had reserved its decision on AJL's plea on November 22.

"The High Court said AJL will have to vacate the premises at ITO here within two weeks after which proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 would be initiated.

"The L&DO had ended the lease -- entered into with AJL on August 2, 1962 and made perpetual on January 10, 1967 -- asking the company to hand over the possession by November 15. The L&DO's order had also said that failure to hand over possession would lead to initiation of proceedings under the Public Premises Act.

................................................................................................

"In its plea, AJL has also said that the digital versions of English newspaper National Herald, Hindi's Navjivan and Urdu's Qaumi Awaz have commenced since 2016-17. The weekly newspaper 'National Herald on Sunday' resumed on September 24 last year and the place of publication was the ITO premises, AJL had said, adding that the Hindi weekly newspaper Sunday Navjivan was also being published since October this year from the same premises.

"Later in the evening, welcoming the judgment, the Urban Development Ministry said that, “It was found by the inspecting team of the Ministry on April 09, 2018 that no printing press was functioning at any floor of the premises and no paper stock was found anywhere.”

"“In earlier inspections also, the basement where Press machine should have been, was found vacant.  Further, it was also found that almost all shares of AJL were transferred to ‘Young Indian Ltd’ having same address as that of AJL without any permission of the Ministry.  As per a report of the Income Tax Department, in Young Indian Ltd., the majority of shares (76%) are held by the Gandhi family and the rest by Shri Motilal Vora and Shri Oscar Fernandes. It was also observed that instead of using the land given to AJL for Press purpose, they are earning a huge sum of money by renting out almost entire building except one floor which has negated the purpose for which the land was originally allotted,” said the Ministry in a statement."

................................................................................................

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s timely intervention on a prompt alert by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy collapsed the Congress leadership’s attempts to issue a dubious Circular by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to save them from the tax default case in National Herald. Shockingly, on December 31, 2018, CBDT issued a dubious Circular diluting the tax burden on the fresh issue of shares.

"This was a cunning attempt engineered by the former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who is now the lead lawyer of Sonia Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi and with National Herald facing more than Rs.400 crores tax evasion case in the National Herald case. Congress leaders lost the case against Income Tax in all forums and now their last appeal is pending in the Supreme Court, where the case is scheduled on January 8. This dubious circular by CBDT was issued by a clever act by Congress leaders led by Chidambaram to save their High Command. The CBDT was forced to issue this order by Finance Ministry headed by Arun Jaitley. The idea was to show this circular to the Supreme Court in the next hearing to save Sonia and Rahul from tax default. The content of the circular is the same as what Chidambaram and a battery of Congress lawyers were arguing in the Supreme Court.

"But this collapsed after many honest Income Tax officials alerted BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who is the main petitioner in the National Herald case. Swamy alerted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS leadership about this fraud orchestrated in the Finance Ministry under Jaitley to save Sonia and Rahul from tax evasion case. According to highly placed officials, Modi ordered the cancelation of this dubious CBDT Circular on January 3 and the Order was withdrawn by CBDT on January 4 in the evening[99].

................................................................................................

"Many senior Income Tax officers say this dubious move originated from the Finance Ministry in the garb of giving some relief to the new investors from Angel Tax. Chidambaram-friendly officers were behind this move, they say.

"Hearing Modi’s direction on withdrawal of the dubious CBDT Order next came the Congress’ DRAMA! After the withdrawal of the Order, on January 4 evening, Congress conducted a Press Conference at AICC Head Quarters by Vivek Tankha MP and Ahmed Patel congratulating CBDT for issuing a new order on December 31, which was canceled few hours ago. Congress leaders said they are welcoming the CBDT Order! And declared that this circular vindicates their stand in the National Herald case! Congress was planning to quietly submit the CBDT Circular of December 31 in the Supreme Court on January 8 to get relief for Sonia and Rahul[100]. But the plan collapsed due to Prime Minister’s intervention and the Circular was canceled on January 4. So, a drama was created by calling a press conference thanking CBDT on January 4, for December 31 Circular, which was canceled hours before the Press Conference!

"And next day Congress leaders started crying that the Order was withdrawn by “vendetta” filled Modi. Blaming Jaitley headed Finance Ministry, the BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said that the Government should probe who all played the dirty games in issuing this dubious circular to save Sonia and Rahul from the tax evasion in National Herald case.

................................................................................................

"This is not the first time the Finance Ministry under Arun Jaitley has done double-dealings in the National Herald case. In mid-2014, weeks after the trial court summoned the Congress leaders, the Enforcement Directorate issued a dubious circular to its officers asking them not to register any money laundering cases based on the summons issued by courts. The illegal order also said that the officers should wait for the Supreme Court’s decisions and not to initiate actions. The circular was withdrawn after Subramanian Swamy filed complaints to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS leaders, blaming Arun Jaitley for covert operations.

"One must remember Arun Jaitley’s controversial interview with Barkha Dutt in 2015. In his interview, Jaitley said if National Herald’s publisher Associated Journal Limited (AJL) pays back Rs.90 crores to Congress party, the case will end! Now Income Tax found that the so-called loan of Rs.90 crores was just a hoax and this fake loan claim was nothing but a clever ploy by Sonia and Rahul to covertly take over the Rs.5000 crores worth land assets across in India by AJL."

................................................................................................

"Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a probe on the issuing of a dubious Circular by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on December 31, 2018 to save Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from the Income Tax implications in the National Herald case. In a letter, appreciating Modi for the prompt action of the withdrawal of the circular on January 4, Swamy said there should be a probe to find out who asked the Under Secretary in Ministry of Finance to issue this dubious circular to save the Gandhis from tax probes.

"“You have given importance to this National Herald case by announcing in the public several times that Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and four others are presently out on bail and therefore lacked morality to speak about corruption. This is a well-taken point, and I congratulate you for bringing the matter before the general public,” said Swamy pointing out that the dubious CBDT circular was issued to demolish his case as well as the Income Tax’s case.

"He said that this Circular was issued by “traitors” with the help of pliable officials to save Gandhis from the crime of forming Young Indian and take over the 99.9% shares of the National Herald publishing firm Associated Journals Limited in an illegal way.

................................................................................................

"“This is an extraordinary, unprecedented event, that a Circular (dealing with such an extraordinarily important matter impinging on the fight against corruption) should be issued to casually and withdrawn within a matter of 24 hours. It means that the original Circular dated December 31, 2018, and made public on January 3, 2019, was either an act of gross stupidity and incompetence (which is not likely), or probably that it was a command performance by the Finance Ministry Under-Secretary who signed the Circular. The mere fact that in 24 hours, the Circular was withdrawn shows the great concern felt by the Government about the damage likely to be caused by this and hence the Government wasted no time to withdraw the Circular. But it is important to know the Circulars are prepared through a process in which many participate,” said Swamy, seeking an Inquiry Committee under Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in PMO.

"“Obviously the first Circular was to help Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other four accused to escape from the National Herald case. What was the quid pro quo for this action of the Ministry of Finance officer? The signing officer should be interrogated on who advised him/ her to sign this Circular,” demanded Swamy, main petitioner in the National Herald case."

................................................................................................

"Having lost in the lower courts, the defunct National Herald newspaper publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL) approached the Supreme Court against the eviction from its headquarters Herald House, accusing the ruling party BJP of having a “pathological animus” towards the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. AJL, which is owned by the top Congress leadership was slammed by the Delhi High Court on February 28 and ordered to leave the Herald House. AJL is now facing the Urban Development Ministry’s final notice on March 1 of eviction from the premises for serious frauds and violations committed in the garb of advantages given to media firms.

"“This court may be pleased to take judicial notice that the principal political party of the incumbent ruling coalition dispensation at the Centre viz the BJP (in its present form since 1980 and in its earlier avatar - the Bharatiya Jana Sangh since 1951) harbours a pathological animus to the ideas of Indian's first Prime Minister - Pandit Nehru, whom they incessantly and viciously accuse of creation of a secular democratic republic where people of all faiths have equal protection and equal access under the Constitution,” the plea filed by AJL in the apex court said."

The last bit, from "Nehru ... " onwards to " ... Constitution", makes no sense. One does not "viciously accuse" someone of "equal protection and equal access" - unless we are referring to victims and criminals of horrendous crimes. 

The fact is, those who filed that plea did not wish to actually quote the accusations by BJP et al, so they substituted their own laudatory lies, instead. 

................................................................................................

"Terming the eviction proceedings before the single-judge bench and double-judge bench in High Court as biased and malafide, the AJL in its appeal said that its publication espouses the ideology of the Congress party, which is presently the largest opposition party in the country.

"“The eviction proceedings have been initiated for the purposes of scuttling the voice of democratic dissent of the Congress Party. It is a clear affront to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and a deliberate attempt to suppress and destroy the legacy of the first Prime Minister of the country i. e. Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the guiding light for the publications of the petitioner-company,” it said.

"The Division Bench of High Court, comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao outlined all frauds committed by the Sonia Gandhi-and-Rahul Gandhi-controlled firm Young Indian for dubiously acquiring AJL and controlling its huge land assets across the country worth more than Rs.5000 crores. The 63-page judgment detailed the various illegalities, ratifying the December 2018 judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur ordering the eviction of Herald House by the Urban Development Ministry. The Division Bench took note of the fact that AJL has been taken over by Young Indian Company for all practical purposes. It said: “This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi was to acquire 99% of AJL’s shares speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable.”"

................................................................................................

"Swamy vindicated 

"The scathing observation by the Division Bench totally vindicates the first criminal case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. AJL was represented by Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and the Urban Development Ministry by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. In the judgment, the Court observed that on many occasions, AJL did not answer properly and tried to hide the facts. Upholding the single bench view that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young Indian was nothing but a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of the lucrative interest in the premises to Young India, the bench observed that with just Rs.50 lakhs, Sonia and Rahul controlled the Young Indian became the owners of more than Rs.400 crores worth owners of Herald House[102].

"This is the last chance for AJL to object to the eviction from Herald House. Already, the final appeal against the Income Tax Order exposing the Rs.413 crores fine for asset-grabbing by Sonia and Rahul is before the Supreme Court. In the main case, the cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by Congress lawyers is set to resume on March 30."

................................................................................................

"In a major crackdown in the National Herald (NH) case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken possession of the Rs.64 crores-worth building and property in Panchkula, allotted to the newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The Adjudicating Authority under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Wednesday confirmed ED’s move to attach Panchkula property in December 2018. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED have registered charge sheets against then Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and officials for illegally allotting the land in 2005.

"Congress leader Motilal Vora is the Managing Director of the Public Limited Company AJL. Other Directors are Congress leaders Oscar Fernadez and Sonia Gandhi family’s associates Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey. In 2011, this 80-year-old public limited company was covertly taken over by a private company named Young Indian, owned by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Both have 38 percent shares each in this newly floated firm with no assets. Through a dubious way, Young Indian took over 99.9% shares of the AJL, which has more than Rs.2000 crores worth land assets across India, spanning from Delhi, Panchkula, Lucknow, Mumbai etc.  The bizarre fraud was exposed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in November 2012. Currently, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders are out on bail in the criminal case filed by Subramanian Swamy.

"In mid-2014, Swamy filed cases to Income Tax, ED, CBI and state governments of Haryana, Maharashtra to probe into the land allotment frauds, tax frauds in the National Herald case. Income Tax has imposed a heavy fine of Rs.414 crores on Young Indian, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and currently the case is pending before Supreme Court after the appeal is filed by the accused[103].

................................................................................................

".”..Since the value of plot (in Panchkula) fraudulently allotted to AJL has represented proceeds of crime, the ED has attached plot under the PMLA act,” the ED had said in a statement. Now, the ED said Wednesday, that the Adjudicating Authority of PMLA “has held that defendants have committed the schedule offence, generated proceeds of crime and further found that the properties attached are proceeds of crime beyond any doubt and thereby ordered for confirmation of the provisional attachments order.”

"With this approval, the ED is empowered to take possession of the land and erect its authority signage over the plot that disallows any trespass or activity by anybody over the asset. However, the plot can be finally transferred to the government exchequer once the trial in the case concludes in favour of the agency, officials said.

"National Heralds’ headquarters in Delhi – Herald House – is already facing eviction and takeover notice from the Ministry of Urban Development. The case is currently pending in Supreme Court on the appeal filed by the accused. Maharashtra Government has formed a committee headed by officials to look into the illegality of land allotment in Bandra. This prime land was illegally given to some real estate lobby and the Committee found lot of violations in 2016[104]. However, the Maharashtra Government has not taken further action on this blatant violation and illegalities in Bandra land allotments."

................................................................................................

"It is a known fact that Dr. Swamy was not supported by the present Government in his fight against Corruption and the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

"Even in court proceedings, Dr. Swamy had no backing. In fact, bottlenecks were created within by a few elements to protect and safeguard the past regime's corrupt officials. Many a time, the Government appointed lawyer would fail to show up!

"The 2G case and its judgment during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) period in the public domain; the Govt officers failed to perform their duties of presenting a watertight case. A few of the Govt. officers had connections with 2G scam accused and a deep-rooted conspiracy to weaken the prosecution prevailed.

................................................................................................

"Dr. Swamy singlehandedly fought UPA's corruption charges in the 2G case prior to 2014 and got a favourable judgment from the Supreme Court in which the spectrum licenses got canceled. The same trend did not reflect in the 2G case judgment during the NDA period. The case collapsed in the Special Court with all accused being acquitted and an adverse comment by the Honourable Judge on the prosecution's role in presenting evidence during the trial. Now the matter is on appeal in the High Court and it is hoped that justice will be delivered this time.

"Ex FM P Chidambaram's investigation on multiple corruption cases was internally sabotaged during the 2014 - 2019 period. Crucial information from Govt agencies was leaked to the accused to counter moves. In this matter, Dr. Swamy was determined to take on the Ex-FM P Chidambaram all alone and submitted new crucial evidence of Karti Chidambaram's Foreign bank accounts, Foreign Properties, Foreign investments, details of corruption, etc. Only after the general election of 2019, has the case moved positively and now an indisputable case is framed against the accused.

................................................................................................

"When you review the National Herald case which Dr. Swamy filed prior to 2014, he didn't have any backing from BJP led NDA after it came to power. It was like a One-Man Army taking on the mighty Gandhi Family and their squad which was the ruling party then. The case is based on documentary evidence which presented their wrongdoings, and the outcome is likely by the first half of the next year.

"Even in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, Dr. Swamy faced difficulties due to opposition from within the Govt. They systematically opposed Dr. Swamy's role for its early hearing in the case. They wanted him out and ignored his valid plea on faith & fundamental right to pray. Misguided Govt affidavit was submitted during the proceedings. In fact, Govt had no role in the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

"Eventually, Dr. Swamy's hard work paid off with the Supreme Court listing hearing and the final judgment, in favor of the Hindus.

"Dr. Swamy's role in the fight against Corruption and the Ram Janmabhoomi case should be appreciated and lauded. He is a true Corruption Crusader and Hindu Hriday Samrat."

................................................................................................

"The doors are closing step-by-step for Congress President Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. The Appellate Tribunal’s Order dated November 15, ratifying the Income Tax Order of canceling Charitable activities exemption certificate reiterates the fact that mother and son controlled firm Young Indian committed a series of blatant frauds in grabbing the assets of the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL).

"After canceling the tax exemption certificate Income Tax has fined Young Indian Rs.249 crores, finding that the shell firm has a taxable income of Rs.414 crores1. The Income Tax Department also ordered a re-assessment of the incomes of Sonia and Rahul and they lost the case in Delhi High Court2. Now the case is pending in the Supreme Court and is listed for November 29.

"The Appellate Tribunal’s 175-page Order (the link is given in Appendix 6) reiterates the frauds committed to dubiously acquiring thousands of crores worth assets of the National Herald publishing company in Delhi, Panchkula, Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow, and other metro cities. The Tribunal’s Order also lays bare the lies floated by the Congress leaders. In many areas of the Order, the Tribunal headed by Amit Shukla and Prashant Maharishi lists in detail the frauds and lies of the Congress leaders."

................................................................................................

"Scam exposed by Swamy 

"When the National Herald scam was exposed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the Congress leaders claimed that they took Rs.90 crores loan from Congress party to save party’s debt-ridden newspaper. The Tax authorities probe exposes that there was no such loan and that this fake loan claim was a cock & bull story to dubiously take over thousands of crores worth assets of National herald, spread across many cities.

"The Tribunal Order also reveals the fact that in the garb of journalism, the National Herald’s covert operation after the takeover by Sonia and Rahul was just to acquire the huge land assets. The Order also shows that a one-crore-loan later claimed as a donation from a Kolkata based shell firm Dotex was nothing but money laundering.  In a nutshell, the Tribunal Order says that using the fake loan or donation of Rs.50 lakhs, Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian covertly acquired thousands of crores-worth assets of National Herald publishing firm AJL."

................................................................................................

NH Digital operation a sham

"The Order also says that the digital operation of the National Herald was nothing but a sham to avoid cases and just to show that they are engaged in media newspaper activity. Government has already issued orders to vacate the Herald House and Delhi High Court has already ratified it. Now the Congress leaders appeal is pending before Supreme Court and expected to be listed on November 25.

"In the main criminal case filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy that is now in the cross-examination stage, the Congress leaders are, for the past one year, engaged in crossing the petitioner. The next date for crossing is scheduled on November 29 and 30 and Swamy has already urged day-to-day hearing in the case and the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, heading the special fast track court of MPs and MLAs said that he would consider starting day-to-day hearing from January 2020."

................................................................................................

"In a big slap to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday attached the defunct National Herald newspaper company Associated Journal Limited (AJL)’s 11-floor building in Bandra East in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). AJL’s 99.3 percent shares are controlled by the dubious firm Young Indian, where Sonia and Rahul own 76 percent of the shares. Congress leadership bagged this prime property in 1983 in Bandra East for office and printing of National Herald’s Mumbai edition. By mid-2000, Congress leaders engaged in deals with real estate firms and managed to get an approval to build 9 floors and two basement floors.

"Though the book value of the property is recorded at around Rs.17 crores, the market value is expected to be above Rs.500 crores. After filing a case against Sonia & Rahul in the trial court, petitioner and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy filed complaints to many agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the ED, the Urban Development Ministry, Income Tax and many State Governments against the massive properties of National Herald publishing company AJL, which is covertly grabbed by Sonia and Rahul controlled Young Indian.

................................................................................................

"The Haryana Government has transferred the probe to the CBI on Panchkula property saying that this is a massive fraud involving many states. The CBI has registered a case against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and the AJL Managing Director and the then Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora and ED attached the plush property in Panchkula. Bandra property attachment is the second attachment in the National Herald case. Maharashtra Government’s probe had proved many illegalities in the Bandra East land and involvement of Congress leaders in covertly handing over the newspaper company’s property to real estate sharks[106].

"The ED found that Panchkula property was valued at Rs.120 crores and AJL took a loan from Syndicate Bank’s Delhi ITO Branch to build 11 floors in Bandra East property by top Congress leadership, who are the loyalists of Sonia Gandhi family. Income Tax has already charged Sonia and Rahul of tax evasion of more Rs. 414 crores and the case are presently pending in the Supreme Court. The National Herald’s headquarters in Delhi – Herald House – is already facing eviction from Urban Development Ministry and the case is currently pending on appeal by Congress leadership in Supreme Court.

"The main case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in the trial court against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, and other Congress leaders is in the cross-examination phase."

................................................................................................

"BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to direct the Urban Development Ministry to take back the land allotted to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation at the heart of New Delhi. In his letter to the Prime Minister, Swamy pointed out that in 2015 he filed a petition to the Ministry citing the illegalities of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation using the prime property which was actually allotted to Congress party in 1988.

"“Much information has come in the public domain about the fraud of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. I had written a letter to the Ministry of Urban Ministry several years ago, pointing out that RGF building was built on the plot on the Raisina Road that was granted by the Ministry of Urban Development for building the Congress party office. But instead, the building has been usurped by RGF. I strongly recommend Government taking back the plot and nationalisng the building,” said Swamy in his letter to Modi."

Author gives the relevant tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy here, in a photographic format. 

................................................................................................

"How did Sonia Gandhi grab the plot allotted for Congress party headquarters? 

"In 1988, a year prior to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s centenary year (1989), Government (then ruled by Rajiv Gandhi) allotted a prime plot to the Congress party to build a big headquarters named Jawahar Bhawan. Across India, Congress workers collected more than Rs.500 crores for the construction of their headquarters. Many Corporates also donated money and it was known to all that the building was actually constructed by the late Dhirubhai Ambani. There were two sources of income– Congress workers collected money across the country and the Corporates pitched in too. Meanwhile, after the 30th day of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, June 21, 1991, Sonia Gandhi started the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and slowly usurped the building meant for Congress party’s headquarters. This is a clear violation. The land was allotted for Congress party’s headquarters and now using as Sonia family’s private foundation.

................................................................................................

"The irony is that the Congress headquarters is still working at the old building at 24, Akbar Road, neighboring Sonia Gandhis’ home at 10, Janpath Road. In 2009, Congress party and all political parties were given land at Deen Dayal Upadhayay Marg area. The Congress party is yet to construct its headquarters, while even cashless Communist parties made their offices in the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg area.

"After filing a complaint against the illegal use of Herald House in the National Herald case, Subramanian Swamy in 2015 filed a petition to Urban Development Ministry for taking back the land illegally used by Sonia Gandhi family-controlled Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Swamy also demanded a probe of RGF operating in tax haven Seychelles too."

................................................................................................

"Trying to speed up the procedures in the National Herald case trial, petitioner BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday approached trial court for summoning crucial Income Tax orders, Income Tax officials, Land Development Department’s order for evicting Herald House and its officials, and other witnesses. Swamy also demanded summoning of former Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi who issued a statement on behalf of Congress saying on November 2, 2012, about Congress giving Rs.90 crores loan to National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited and ‘The Pioneer’ newspaper journalist J Gopikrishnan who reported his email communications with Rahul Gandhi on the relaunch of National Herald newspaper.

"On December 5 (Saturday) the case was scheduled for resuming cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by the accused. But the advocates of the accused Congress leaders were not ready, citing their inability to present in Court due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last cross-examination was in March 2020 and for the past more than two years the main accused Sonia Gandhi’s lawyers have been examining Swamy. The BJP leader has already demanded the Court for day-to-day hearing in the case and the next hearing is scheduled on December 23.

................................................................................................

"In his application for summoning documents and witnesses, Swamy also sought summoning of Secretary-General (Registry Officer) Supreme Court Sanjeev S Kalgaonar, Deputy Land and Development Officer Rajnish Kumar Jha, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (Circle-1) Saket Singh. For the past three years, after Swamy produced the photocopy of Income Tax orders exposing the huge tax violation of more than Rs.414 crores by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi-headed firms, the accused persons were challenging the authenticity photocopy of the Order. Swamy countered that these documents were relied on by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the High Court and Supreme Court in their petitions against the Supreme Court. PGurus already published the 105-page Order of Income Tax department on the Rs. 414 crore tax evasion by Gandhi family using National Herald newspaper.

"“This case is a quintessential case of documentary evidence. Due to the fact that there are many documents that have been annexed to the Chief Examination of the Complainant, which are public documents, which have been marked; these are certified copies of these public documents,” the application of Swamy said.

"“Due to the fact that these are marked documents, these documents need to be proved through the testimony of the appropriate witnesses. It is reiterated that as the complainant’s case is a quintessential case of the evidence being documentary evidence, therefore these documents need to be proved through their witnesses,” it said.

................................................................................................

"Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta on December 5 adjourned the matter for December 23 as the lawyers from the accused side did not appear physically and sought an adjournment. 

"Earlier, several times, the accused Congress leaders were objecting to the submission of documents and witnesses. Apart from Subramanian Swamy’s case in the trial court, Congress leaders are facing two cases in the Supreme Court. One is the Income Tax charges of Rs.414 crores-tax-evasion and the other is eviction from the Herald House, the headquarters of the defunct National Herald newspaper. Congress leaders lost these two cases in Delhi High Court in 2018 and their appeal is pending before the Supreme Court. The Enforcement Directorate has already attached two big plush buildings of the National Herald in Panchkula and Bandra in Mumbai."

................................................................................................

"Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday objected to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s demand for production of Income Tax notices and Urban Development Ministry’s notices in the National Herald case. Instead of producing the documents served to the accused persons which they already produced in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court, the Congress leaders in their objection affidavit said that Swamy is trying to delay the process and his demand petition was vague in nature.

"For more than two years from July 2018, Congress leaders are spending time cross-examining Swamy, and, in the affidavit, they said that the demand for other process and approval of the list of witnesses can be filed later after the current process. At present, the Income Tax notice of more than Rs.400 crores tax evasion and eviction of Herald House is pending before the Supreme Court. In both cases, Congress lost the case in Delhi High Court and now the appeals are pending in the apex court.

................................................................................................

"“The present application is liable to be dismissed being totally vague; tainted by inordinate delay and dilatory in nature,” the counsel appearing for the accused said. “The present application is also liable to be dismissed as the present application does not conform to the relevant provision,” the counsel told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta. In reply to the application, the accused said that while it was the legal right of Swamy to submit a list of witnesses sought to be summoned by him, the court was not conducting a “roving inquiry.”"

Obviously congi lawyers were telling the court how to react, what to say, and, in general, usurping the rights and privileges of court! 

................................................................................................

"“The complainant has not submitted any list of witnesses even though the recording of pre-charge evidence had commenced on July 21, 2018, when the complainant himself stepped into the witness box. Needless to say that the application has to satisfy the procedure prescribed by law,” said the Congress leaders objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents and witnesses."

Funny, did they mean that their own clients had no such requirements vis-a-vis law, and could ignore it at will, circumvent it, flout it? 

................................................................................................

"Reacting to Congress leaders’ objection, Swamy said that why they object on producing the Income Tax and other notices to them and asked to agree for the day-to-day hearing?"

Author gives another tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy in photographic format. 

"Income Tax and Urban Development Ministry documents expose the frauds in National Herald and that is why Congress leadership is objecting the production of these documents in the trial court. PGurus have published the Income Tax documents exposing the huge tax evasion of more than Rs.400 crores by Sonia and Rahul controlled company Young Indian. The 105-page Income Tax findings are ratified by Delhi High Court already."

There, "objecting the production" should read "objecting to the production"

"The application moved by Swamy had sought summoning of Secretary-General Sanjeev S Kalgaonar (Registry officer) Supreme Court of India, Rajnish Kumar Jha (Dy Land & Development officer), Saket Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax Circle-1 and a Congress official who issued a press statement on November 2, 2012. Swamy also sought summoning of journalist J Gopikrishnan, also as a witness. Rahul Gandhi earlier wrote to the journalist that there is no re-launch of the newspaper.

"There are seven accused in the case - Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Motilal Vora, who recently passed away, and the company Young Indian."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"The National Herald scam first came in the public domain from a report published in ‘The Pioneer’ newspaper on October 9, 2012 by journalist J Gopikrishnan. The report was on the formation of a new private company titled ‘Young Indian (YI)’ by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi and that Young Indian took over the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL), a public limited company floated in 1938 by freedom fighters. The report headline was – ‘Sonia-Rahul set to revive media interests’. The report also quoted the documents of ‘Young Indian’ saying that Young Indian has decided to take over the liability of AJL to the Congress party of about Rs.90 crores at a value of Rs.50 lakhs. This curious wording of ‘Young Indian decided to take over the liability of AJL to the Congress party of Rs.90 crores at a value of Rs.50 lakhs’ planted doubts in the minds of many. The following day several newspapers carried the Pioneer report."

This paragraph above and similarly subsequent such paragraphs are accompanied by a photograph each, quite readable, of the article mentioned. 

"But the situation changed when journalist Gopikrishnan received an email from Rahul Gandhi late in the evening that day. In that email, Rahul Gandhi said that the report of a re-launch of the National Herald newspaper was totally wrong and on October 11, 2012, Pioneer carried a report that Rahul denied the re-launch of National Herald.

"This point onwards Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader (then in the Janata Party) Subramanian Swamy started asking questions that if YI is not reviving the newspaper, then why take over a newspaper publishing company AJL? Veteran Journalist Sandhya Jain wrote a series of articles in a website Niti Central on the irregularities in shareholding pattern of AJL, having hundreds of dead shareholders.

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"To understand what transpired next, it is important to take a look at the prevailing political landscape in India. Fresh from the 2G scam victory, Subramanian Swamy had taken over the political discourse of India. His win against the Congress in the 2G scandal had put the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the mat. With another sensational revelation, Swamy’s popularity had skyrocketed."

It's unclear how author goes from "His win against the Congress in the 2G scandal" to "put the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the mat.", unless she means it in a way the phrase is not used in English, and means that congress and UPA were down. 

................................................................................................

"What is National Herald Scam?

"The AJL was a public limited company floated by freedom fighters in 1938 under the leadership of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru and known as the organ of Congress party. After Independence, AJL got prime lands across India to start editions of National Herald newspaper. The lands and buildings in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bhopal, Panchkula, Indore, Patna etc were valued at more than Rs.2,000 crores.  In 2008, Congress leadership decided to stop publishing the National Herald newspaper and its Hindi and Urdu versions too. In late 2010, Sonia and Rahul floated a private company called Young Indian with 38 percent shareholding for each. The remaining 24 percent shares were held by Gandhi family’s confidants Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez (12 percent each). Gandhi family’s trusted persons Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey were also Directors in this shell company – Young Indian. Interestingly, the now late Motilal Vora was a common figure – He was the Treasurer of Congress, Chairman and Managing Director of AJL and a Director at Young Indian. Many a time, Subramanian Swamy explained the scam in simple way that Motilal Vora went to Motilal Vora in another capacity to execute the scam ... "

Author gives a neat cartoon triptych. 

"On November 1, 2012, Subramanian Swamy conducted a big press conference exposing the documents of the National Herald scam. The very next day, Congress leaders owed up that they paid Rs.90 crores to help National Herald, which was illegal, as a political party was not supposed to fund commercial activities. Later, during the Income Tax investigation, it was found that Congress party’s claim was bogus, and the party had no records of such money transaction.

................................................................................................

"Subramanian Swamy approached the trial court in Delhi petitioning the National Herald scam in February 2013 charging Sonia and Rahul of cheating, and criminal conspiracy to grab the Rs.2000 crores-worth land and assets of AJL by floating a shell firm. After 16 months of arguments by Swamy, on June 26, 2014 the trial court Magistrate Gomati Manocha summoned Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and five others to appear before the Court on August 7. This was the first time Sonia Gandhi was summoned by a Court and Congress went into a tizzy and started mouthing all kinds of abuses. A few days before appearing in the trial court, Congress leaders obtained a stay from the Delhi High Court. Three Judges were changed during the case and at last Justice Sunil Gaur on December 8, 2015 ratified the trial court’s summoning order and asked Sonia, Rahul, and others to appear in the trial court on December 19, 2015.

"Till the date of the Court appearance, Congress stalled the Parliament Session several times, accusing BJP of political vendetta and at last the leaders appeared before the Court on December 19, 2015. All the accused including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and Young Indian were granted bail and the trial is going on between the accused challenging many procedures of trial court in High Court. In January 2016, Supreme Court categorically said that the trial must go on.

"In 2017, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) found blatant irregularities in the land allotment and building usage of National Herald properties in Panchkula and Mumbai and the ED has attached both assets in 2019 and 2020. In 2018, Income Tax found huge tax violation of more than Rs.414 crores in Young Indian by illegally acquiring the assets of AJL, worth more than Rs.2000 crores. The headquarters in Delhi - Herald House – was asked to vacate by the Urban Development Ministry. In both cases, the Government actions were ratified by the Delhi High Court and the accused’s final appeal is before the Supreme Court form 2019."

................................................................................................

"The whole transaction is a sham: IT

"The 105-page assessment order of the Income Tax Department dated Dec 27, 2017 lays bare the sham transaction that was done to usurp the assets of AJL. The number of errors committed, including brazenly claiming that Congress put Rs.90.21crores into AJL between 2002 and 2008 without sufficient proof, is but a glimpse into the hubris-afflicted family comprising Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi. The document is a must-read for anyone who wants to know how under the UPA regime shell companies were used to move money in and out of legitimate businesses.  Below explains the roles played by the same set of six individuals to facilitate this sham transaction (Dec 2017). Some have died, and some roles have changed since then."

Author gives a neat table. 

"These two chapters set the context. PGurus has been consistently covering every event in National Herald case from October 2015. It is now 2021 and Congress continues to employ dilatory tactics as they try to stop the inevitable."

Hope the "inevitable" is correct, not just hope,  it comes true, and inexorably so.  

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Oct 4 – Gandhis request a judge change 

"In an interesting turn of events, Zee News reported[1] that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court seeking the transfer of hearing in the National Herald case to the judge who had earlier heard the arguments in the matter at length. The Gandhis would like to have Justice Sunil Gaur (who had been re-assigned by the court administration earlier) to try this case instead of Justice P S Teji. 

"The case will be coming up in front of Justice P S Teji tomorrow, as reported earlier by us. 

"But as events turned out, the case was indeed heard by Justice Sunil Gaur, in December."

Wonder why the specific name was asked for by the guilty. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Oct 23 – Young Indian deal above board 

"Asserting all deals of Young Indian were above board, the Congress on Friday welcomed any probe with regard to the National Herald case. In an interview to ABP News, Randeep Surjewala asserted that “Young Indian had taken a commercial loan of ₹1 crore ($154,000) through cheque from a company of RPG group at an interest of 14%. The entire loan along with interest has been repaid to the same company of RPG group”[2]. 

"“If the Government of India, Enforcement Directorate, Registrar of Companies, Income Tax Department (IT), or any other agency have any doubts regarding the financial dealings of RPG group or Young India, they can initiate investigations. We would welcome it and are ready to cooperate with them,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday levelled charges against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case, alleging Young India, a company in which both Gandhis are said to have major stake, had borrowed a total of Rs.1 crore from a firm which was allegedly involved in converting black money into white."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 05 – judgment Reserved 

Comprehensive report with detailed arguments of Dr. Swamy

"The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved its judgment in the National Herald case after senior BJP leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy made a forceful argument for dismissal of the pleas of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son, party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, and four others against a trial court order summoning them on a cheating and breach of trust complaint. 

"But to the discomfort of the Congress stalwarts, Justice Sunil Gaur observed that the Congress party could have written off the loan of Rs 90.25 crores it had given to the Associate Press Journal - publishers of National Herald, instead of assigning it to a charitable company — Young Indian, in which some of its leaders are directors.

................................................................................................

"Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the Gandhis, argued that the Congress `assigned’ the loan to Young Indian to “clean the balance sheets of AJL“ for the revival of the company and to make it loan worthy. 

"In the heart of the alleged scandal is the fact that the Congress loaned Rs 90.25 crores to (AJL), on December 28, 2010 and subsequently assigned this debt to Young Indian Ltd (YIL), a charitable company, for Rs.50 lakhs.

"Interestingly, Sonia and Rahul hold 76 percent share in the YIL and 12 per cent each are held by Congress treasurer Motilal Vora and party leader Oscar Fernandes. Vora is also the Chief Managing Director of the AJL, which has huge real estate assets worth around Rs.2000 cr. 

"The trial court had issued summons to Sonia, Rahul, Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda (the last two are directors of the YIL). The Congress leaders came to the HC seeking quashing of the trial court order.

................................................................................................

"Dr. Swamy contended that the loan was “illegally” given to the AJL since political parties cannot give such loans for commercial purposes. He also said that the YIL was floated by Sonia, Rahul, and Congress leaders to grab the properties of the AJL. However, Kapil Sibal and Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi contended that political parties can invest in news publications. 

"Dr. Swamy also argued that the AJL cannot legally assign its debt to the YIL at a ‘farcical value' of Rs.50 lakhs, and the said debt owed by the AJL to Congress was irretrievable.

................................................................................................

"Sibal denied Swamy’s charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust as no offence was committed against any an individual. He also questioned Swamy’s locus to file the complaint since he was not a victim."

"Stalling began. And it has not ended."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 07 – Dr. Swamy prevails in NH case in Delhi HC 

"The Delhi High Court handed down the judgment in the National Herald case, dismissing the petition of Congress to not appear in front of the Patiala Court. News from the High Court is that the Congress is rushing to the Supreme Court to file an appeal. Otherwise, Rahul and Sonia would have to appear in person in the Patiala District Court. 

"It has been observed in the past that the Supreme Court rarely overturns the ruling of 2 lower courts unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary.

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 08 – Congress cries Political vendetta - We beg to disagree 

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. 

"- Abraham Lincoln"

................................................................................................

"Congress's stance that the National Herald Case is one of political vendetta by the BJP does not hold water for the following reasons: 

"1. This was a private criminal case filed by Dr. Swamy in 2012 in Delhi Court during the UPA regime. At that time, Dr. Swamy was not in the BJP but he was the President of Janata Party.

"2. The case took its own time and on June 26, 2014 the Judge Ms. Gomati Manocha, the Metropolitan Magistrate-02, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi summoned the office bearers of Young Indian to the court.

"3. It took several months before every officer of the company could be served the summons. One such individual, Satyen (Sam) Pitroda had to be located in the USA before being served!

"4. Congress then moved the Delhi High Court to quash the summons issued. They used every trick in the book to delay the case in the High Court.

"5. All the work in this case was done by Dr. Swamy's team. As far as we know, there was no involvement of any significant BJP leader in this effort.

"6. BJP in fact, let the law of the land dictate the course of events. How is that Political vendetta?

"7. News has just emerged that the Metropolitan Judge for this case has been changed from Ms. Gomati Manocha to Sh. Lovleen. Is Congress going to say that they had nothing to do with this change? It has been done before, in the Delhi High Court!"

"Abraham Lincoln once said that “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” It is time the Congress Party faces up to the realities of their actions. Surely if there was no impropriety, they could have said that at the trial! Why delay it?"

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 10 – TMC, Congress walk out in Lok Sabha

"Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the drought situation in several parts of the country, parliamentarian Virendra Singh on Wednesday challenged the Congress leaders on their knowledge about the farmers in the country."

"Mahajan said she cannot force the member to apologise. She noted that papers were thrown at the chair on Wednesday. “Who all should I tell to apologise? Is it right to throw papers?” she said."

"Referring to Wednesday's protests, Biju Janata Dal member Bhartruhari Mahtab said that not only were papers thrown while the deputy speaker was in the chair, but his desk too was thumped repeatedly."

Certainly the misbehaviour by opposition since 2014 is not only no secret, but seems to have become the only policy they follow. 

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................................................................................................

"Dec 12 – Rahul Gandhi’s comments an insult to democracy 

"Union Minister for Human Resource Development Smriti Irani on Friday slammed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his comment that “National Herald case is vendetta coming out of the Prime Minister's Office,” calling it an insult to democracy. 

"“There can't be a bigger insult to our democracy. Judiciary and Democracy don't function at someone's comfort,” Irani said addressing a session at 'Agenda Aaj Tak' being organised here in the city.

"The statements being made by Gandhi show that if the “Judiciary doesn't kneel before the Gandhi family; parliament won't be allowed to function.” 

"The Parliament was not allowed to function properly because of this case. Repeated disruptions, cat calls in the house, members assembling in the well of the house – all to try and hide an open and shut case of stealing in plain sight."

Considering the opposition since 2014 has made it amply clear they intend to not stop short of arson, murders and riots, disruption of Parliament is only another anti-national tool they use as vendetta for having lost their grazing rights, due to the PM and his determination to wipe out corruption. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 13 – Reforms could get derailed by NH slugfest 

" ... The BJP may argue that Swamy has been acting on his own in pursuing the National Herald case and that it is mean-minded of the Congress to mix up the GST Bill with its own legal difficulties in a Goebbelsian manoeuvre, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said. But, since democracy is known to be messy, the case for the compartmentalization of its various aspects may not be foolproof. As it is, the Congress has found a supporter in Mamata Banerjee even if she is playing her own game of keeping the Congress away from a possible alliance with the Left in West Bengal before next year's assembly elections."

" ... Each side will try to hit the other where it hurts the most - the Congress by creating a ruckus in parliament even if it earns the reputation of being petty-minded, and the BJP by arguing that none in the Congress's first family - Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Robert Vadra - is above the law."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 13 – Instead of a Nehru Memorial Library, Congress Bhavan building construction coming on AJL Mumbai Plot 

Here author provides a photograph of the then under construction building being referred to next. 

"Prime Land allotted to M/s Associated Journals (AJL), the holding company of the Congress Mouthpiece the National Herald and Qaumi Awaz newspapers was granted a waiver of interest charges to a tune of Rs 2.79 crores ($417,000) accrued due to delayed payment for land allotment. Instead of a Nehru Memorial Library, a Congress Bhavan building construction is coming up on AJL Mumbai Plot. This information was provided to RTI activist Anil Galgali by BMC Fire Brigade.

"RTI activist Anil Galgali had sought information from the Municipal corporations Building proposal dept about the permissions granted to M/s Associate Journals for carrying out construction on the land. It was informed that the company was issued commencement certificate on 14/06/2013 by the MCGM and since the land came under the funnel of the Airport Authority the NOC for the same was granted on 05/02/2014. The building will be of 11 floors and will be having a minimum of 135 car parking spaces, it also has 14 office spaces in the ground to the 11th floor, but there is no earmarking for Newspaper offices, Library and Research center. Instead of Nehru Memorial Library, a Congress Bhavan building construction will be coming up on AJL Mumbai Plot. ... "

" ... Anil Galgali in a letter addressed to CM Devendra Fadnavis has demanded that the construction activity should be immediately stopped, and the land allotment be immediately scrapped, and possession be taken by the govt and since the land is originally reserved for the purpose of Hostel for Backward classes, and hostel for the Backward class be constructed on the land."

................................................................................................

"How did they get a Prime Plot?

"Amid allegations that the Congress party gave an interest-free loan to Associated Journals Ltd with an eye on the company’s real estate assets, it now emerges that the company that publishes National Herald and Quami Awaz was allotted a prime plot of land by the government of Maharashtra in suburban Mumbai, ostensibly for a press and a Nehru Memorial Library, neither of which was built. The interest on the amount turned out to a massive Rs 2.79 crores ($479,000) which in 2001 was waived off by the then Revenue Minister Ashok Chavan.

"Government documents procured from RTI activist Anil Galgali show that the land was allotted to M/s Associated Journal in 1983 for Rs 1.31 crore ($196,000) in Bandra. However, they did not observe one of the key conditions of the lease by commencing construction in the plot within 3 years of it being allotted. Moreover, it did not even pay up the entire principal amount in one go. The interest on the amount turned out to a massive Rs 2.79 crores ($479,000) which in 2001 was waived off by then Revenue Minister Ashok Chavan. The plot was given for daily news publication, a Nehru library and a research centre in 1983 by Government but it is still is in an as is condition. This plot before handover to M/s Associated Journal's, was to build a hostel for students (Scheduled Caste) for which it was originally reserved. Not only did Associated Journals not construct the press building and library, but it also managed to obtain repeated extensions from the State Government while continuing to hold on to the 30-year lease, which now expires on 22/12/2014. After Anil Galgali's RTI and Complaint made to the Government, now the Company had started the construction work. “Will you as chief minister be able to initiate proceedings for the state government to reclaim land that is now under the control of Rahul Gandhi? There is a question about this,” Galgali has said in his letter dated 2.11.2012. He goes on to say that the market value of the land is now about Rs 250 crores ($37.364 million). But then the Mr. Clean CM did not take any action after a reminder letter was sent by Galgali dated 12.12.2013.

................................................................................................

"According to the Mumbai Mirror[3], the Mumbai Unit of the BJP has written to BMC chief Ajoy Mehta, demanding that a 'stop work' notice be issued to prevent further misuse of a plot in Bandra[4].

"Mumbai Mirror goes on to further report that the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday the 15th of December, 2015, announced a probe to know whether the plot was used for commercial activities. “We will conduct an inquiry and if irregularity is observed, action will be taken in accordance with law,” Fadnavis said.

"Copies of the correspondence between BMC and Shri. Galgali as well as the submissions and correspondence between BMC and Motilal Vora, the Treasurer is provided as a link in Appendix 2."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 19 – Sonia, Rahul to seek bail? 

"Party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said all legal options were open to the party, including applying for bail. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad too spoke in a similar vein on Thursday. 

"“The Congress president and vice president have full faith in the judiciary and full faith in the law of the land. Whatever we shall have to do as per the law, we will do,” Azad said."

The latter has, since, left the party. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 19 – Sonia, Rahul granted bail - next appearance on Feb 20 

"Kapil Sibal, who appeared on behalf of the Congress leaders, told reporters that the court rejected Swamy's plea to impose restrictions on the travel abroad of Congress leaders. 

"“We moved an application on behalf of all the accused for grant of bail. The court was kind enough to grant bail without conditions except for furnishing security in the sum of Rs. 50,000 on behalf of each of the accused which were furnished,” he told reporters after the hearing."

Ridiculously low amounts, in view of even the arrears in taxes alone, apart from the embezzlement. 

"The trial court also granted bail to Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, Gandhis' family friend Suman Dubey and another party leader Oscar Fernandes who also appeared before it.

"Congress leader A.K. Antony gave surety for Sonia Gandhi while Priyanka Gandhi gave surety for her brother Rahul Gandhi. 

"Another accused Sam Pitroda, a former chairman of the National Innovation Council was granted exemption from personal appearance after he moved a plea for the same."

................................................................................................

"The Delhi High Court this month dismissed the Gandhis' plea to quash the summons issued to them by the trial court on June 26, on Swamy's complaint about “cheating” in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd., which published the National Herald newspaper, by Young Indian Ltd., “a firm in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each own a 38 percent stake.”"

"Earlier, Azad accused Modi of backing Swamy in his complaint, while party colleague Randeep Singh Surjewala termed Swamy “a stooge” of Modi. 

"Swamy rubbished the allegations, while BJP leader Muqtar Abbas Naqvi said his party had nothing to do with the case."

Funny, opposition thinks it's enough to besmirch a complainant, or not even that, but just call their association with Hindus questionable, without defending the actual corruption and embezzlement they - the opposition since 2014 - have been exposed practicing for well over half a century. 

"“National Herald is yours. Corruption is yours. BJP has nothing to do with all this,” he told the media."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 22 – Congress Party in the dock 

"The Congress finds itself in the dock over a damning revelation that Young Indian, the controversial company floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to acquire National Herald newspaper firm took ₹1 crore ($154,000) loan from a dubious Kolkata-based company to start its operations in the end of 2010[5]. The Income Tax department’s Kolkata unit’s probe in connection with the National Herald case found that ₹1 crore ($154,000) loan originated from a company called Dotex Merchandise Private Limited. This company, linked to famous RPG Group, acted as a shell company, and was promoted by a money launderer Uday Shankar Mahawar. 

"According to the Income Tax Department, during the interrogation, Mahawar confessed that he was only “entry operator” for this little-known firm. The term ‘entry operator’ in Income Tax refers to the shell company owners engaged in floating companies and money laundering.

"“During the course of post Survey investigation Uday Shankar Mahawar voluntarily disclosed and offered to tax an additional income of ₹3 crores ($462,000) over and above his regular income... In his statement Uday Shankar Mahawar stated that he is an entry operator, and he forms companies to provide accommodation entry in the form of share capital, bogus billing etc.

"“He had formed more than 300 companies and sold them to various beneficiaries after raising bogus share capital. It appears that as of now most of the companies have been sold and the real funds have been infused in these companies. So, the current directors/ shareholders of these companies are the real beneficiaries. Uday Shankar Mahawar has provided bogus accommodation of share capital to various beneficiaries to the tune of Rs.500 crores,” said IT headquarters alert issued to its units across the country dated December 4, 2014.

................................................................................................

"Reacting to the media reports on the links with money launders of Kolkata, the RPG Group said that they did no wrong. The company Dotex Mercandize Private Limited, floated by Mahawar, which donated ₹1 crore ($154,000) is now linked with RPG Group. RPG Group’s senior executives Sunil Bhandari and Sunil Kumar Sanganeria are the current Directors of this controversial company. Bhandari is currently Director of more than 20 companies including RPG Group’s major such as including Spencer International Hotels Limited and Duncan Bros & Co Ltd. 

"In November 2012, Sonia Gandhi’s archrival BJP leader Subramanian Swamy exposed this deal and went to trial court.

"Sanganeria is also Director of several companies including RPG Groups’ major companies like Kolkata Metro Networks Limited and Music World Retail Limited. Interestingly Dotex Merchandize’s email id given in official documents are of RPG Group’s email id - rpsg.secretarial@rp-sg.in

................................................................................................

"Background: The Young Indian was floated by Sonia and Rahul with 38% stake each at the end of 2010. Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora and the party General Secretary Oscar Fernadez owned 12% shares in the company. Gandhi family loyalists Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are also Directors of this company. 

"Within weeks of its formation, the Young Indian declared that they had taken over the ₹90 crores ($13.83 million) worth debt of Associated Journal Limited (AJL), the publishers of the defunct National Herald newspaper. The AJL got ₹90 crores ($13.83 million) loan from Congress party. The move by the Young Indian to take over Rs.90 cr debts of AJL, which it owed to the Congress, at a paltry sum of ₹50 lakhs ($77,000) created the entire controversy.

................................................................................................

"Another dubious action by the AJL was to allot fresh 9 lakh shares to Young Indian towards this debt also has kicked up a row. Through this dubious share allotment, Young Indian acquired 99.1% ownership in the AJL.

"It must be noted Motilal Vora is Director of the Young Indian as well as Chairman and managing director of the AJL and treasurer of the Congress party.

................................................................................................

"AJL was a public limited company floated in 1937 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders. After independence, the AJL got lands from several governments across India for publishing newspaper. The lands in New Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Bhopal, Indore, Panchkula are currently valued at around Rs.5000 crores and Young Indian is now the custodian of these huge assets.

"In November 2012, Sonia Gandhi’s archrival BJP leader Subramanian Swamy exposed this deal and went to trial court. The Metropolitan Magistrate, after 18-month long arguments issued summons to the Congress heavy weights in June 2014. Currently the trial court’s order is challenged in Delhi High Court for the past 15 months. The case shuttled between three judges and currently back to the second Judge Justice Sunil Gaur. Next hearing on this politically sensitive case is scheduled on November 6."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 23 – Sai Prasad Society constructed to accommodate senior Congress leaders and bureaucrats on land adjacent to NH plot 

"Crushed hopes of Mumbaikars by coming up on land required for constructing the 7th Corridor Railway line linking Kurla with Bandra

"The plot belonging to National Herald in Mumbai which continues to torment the Congress Party has infamous neighbours as well. A Society named Sai Prasad which contains names of Senior Congress leaders like Kripashankar Singh and senior bureaucrats like the current Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya was constructed on a plot adjoining the National Herald plot that originally belonged to the National Herald. This section of the plot was reserved to construct the necessary 7th Corridor connecting the Kurla Railway station on the Central Railway with Bandra Railway Station on the Western Railway through the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) which if constructed could have provided a cheaper and faster travel mode to the BKC. The construction of Saiprasad society dashed the hopes of Mumbaikars travelling between the Central & Western Railway of a cheaper connectivity and travel mode. This information was provided to RTI Activist Anil Galgali.

"Saiprasad Cooperative Society had applied for allotment of plot next to the Provident Fund building on 12th April 2000. A plot admeasuring 6518.7 sq mtrs situated in Survey no 341 and CTS No 608/1 & 608/2 had an un allotted portion of only 1016.2 sq mtrs. Almost 1664.4 sq mtrs of land was reserved for the 7th corridor Bandra - Kurla Rail link. To merge and collect both the un allotted plots the layout of National Herald was modified without disturbing its size of 3479.26 sq mtrs. After change of the layout, 1340.3 sq mtrs of the total collected land of 2680.6 sq mtrs was alloted to Saiprasad society. Later, an additional 63.08 sq mtr of the land was allotted to Saiprasad taking its total allotment to 1403.35 sq mtrs. Saiprasad Society paid the Govt Rs.58 Lakhs 79 Thousand 114 as cost of the land between 2003 to 2007 costing a measly Rs.4190 per sq mtr to the society, whose members were prominent politicians and senior bureaucrats. The ready reckoner rates at that time for the location was Rs.43,000 per sq mtr[6]."

................................................................................................

"New 'Adarsh'

"Then Guardian Minister Kripashankar Singh misused his position as Guardian Minister for Mumbai suburbs to get the land allotted to Saiprasad1. The Collector of Mumbai Suburbs Shri C S Sangitrao's daughter and brother along with the Resident Dy Collector Milind Shambarkar, Private Secretary to CM Dr. Avinash Dhakne, were also beneficiaries of the allotment as they procured flats in the constructed society. The Current Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya, Information Commissioner Ajitkumar Jain, Ex Municipal Commissioner and accused in Adarsh Scam Jairaj Phatak, Kishore Gajbhiye, Himanshu Roy, Bipinkumar Singh, Hemant Kothikar, H K Javale, Rajkumar Kharatmol, were also beneficiaries along with Rucha Mistry, daughter of C S Sangitrao and his brother also C S Sangitrao."

................................................................................................

"A peon also gets 'Lottery'

"There are also indications of Benami property in Saiprasad, as a peon working in a school at Dhule, Abhimanyu Daga Bhosale too has a flat in his name. His annual income is just Rs 55,000. One Surendra Pratap Singh, Brother-In-Law of Kripashankar Singh and a vegetable vendor in Navi Mumbai Ramashankar Shivmanohar Pandey also have a flat. Their flats were originally allotted to M M Mathew and Parvatidevi Lalbahadur Singh. The flat allotted to Adv Ujjwal Nikam was transferred to H K Jawale. The chief Promoter of the Society Adv Rajiv Chavan, also a Congress leader too holds a flat.

"RTI Activist Anil Galgali had written a letter 5 years back to the then Chief Minister 'Mr Clean' Prithviraj Chavan on 31st December 2010, but no action was taken on the letter. The whole issue likens to the Adarsh scam and is even more graver as people in power that got flats in Adarsh similarly got flats allotted for themselves in Saiprasad. But greater role was played in Saiprasad as the whole plot was realigned to get the plot for Saiprasad. The Hunger of the Politicians and the Senior Bureaucrats swallowed the hopes of Mumbaikars for having the 7th corridor connectivity of Kurla to Bandra, alleged Anil Galgali. Anil Galgali in a letter addressed to CM Devendra Fadnavis has demanded that the roadblocks be cleared for the 7th Corridor and the possession of Saiprasad be taken and shifted to clear the way for the development of 7th corridor as is the practice undertaken in different development projects."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Jan 03 – Subramanian Swamy seeks to force ED to reveal its stand in NH case 

"In a move that would force the Modi government to reveal its stand on the National Herald (NH) case, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has approached the trial court, seeking issuance of directive to the Centre to submit the findings of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe in the scandal that has big ramification for the Congress party and its top leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. He court will hear the matter on January 11.

"Swamy, who is a complainant in this case, has also asked the court to summon documents of the Delhi Development Authority in this case. The BJP and senior ministers of the Modi government have all along tried to maintain a ‘hands off’ approach from the Swamy complaints. Top ministers of the Modi government have claimed that the ED and Income tax department have so far not acted against the Gandhis in the NH Case and tried to blunt the edge of the Opposition party charge that the Modi regime was pursuing vendetta politics."

One must wonder, why the defensive stance by government in what's a case of huge embezzlement. 

................................................................................................

"Last month, speaking at the Aaj Tak Agenda programme, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that his government had taken no action in this case. “Action has so far not been taken. ED has not issued any notice. Tax authorities have not passed any assessment order,” he said, adding, “The government will wait for the outcome of court proceedings. If there is a tax angle, then taxation authorities will ask questions for which there is a due process.”

"Swamy’s plea before the court to summon documents of ED in this case will force the probe agency to reveal the progress it has done so far in this case. In a way, it will also be testimony of the view taken by the Modi government in pursuing this case. In the past, Swamy alleged that the former Director of ED Rajan Katoch was working at the behest of the Congress party (he is related to Digvijay Singh of Congress) and trying to suppress the investigation in the case. After Swamy wrote to the PM to replace Katoch last August, the Government replaced Katoch with Karnal Singh the very next day and reopened the NH Case.

................................................................................................

"In his first letter to PM (dated August 11, 2015), Swamy said “the present director seems to have no interest in pursuing any matter connected with the Congress Party, perhaps, due to the fact that he is a close relative of Digvijay Singh, who is General Secretary of the Congress party.”

"Further, Swamy said he had provided Katoch “a detailed report of money-laundering carried out by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and four others in the acquisition of National Herald's publishing company.” Swamy also alleged that “an invisible hand” was stopping the ED from launching an investigation.

"In his second letter to Modi dated August 12, Swamy once again provided details of the NH case and accused the ED of not registering a case of money laundering against Rahul and Sonia. Following this letter, Katoch was removed[7].

................................................................................................

"On August 26, Katoch’s successor Karnal Singh, reversed an order by his predecessor and issued a circular clarifying that the ED can probe a case even in the absence of a predicate offence such as an FIR by the police or any other investigating agency if the court has taken cognizance of a complaint.

"Last year, Swamy also demanded that the Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO) should be asked to probe the NH case in view of allegations by some shareholders of Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) that they were not consulted before the company’s equity was transferred to Young Indian Private Ltd."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Jan 03 – Ex-employees of NH to protest in Lucknow 

"Former employees of Associated Journals Ltd., publishers of the now defunct National Herald, Navjivan and Qaumi Awaz, on Saturday said they would stage a sit-in demonstration at the office gate here from January 18 to 21 against the “step-motherly treatment” meted out to them by the management.

"Before the sit-in, a general body meeting of the employees will be held at the office gate on January 16. This was decided at a meeting of the former employees union presided over by its president Kazim Hussain on Saturday.

"In a statement issued by union general secretary Dilip Sinha, the Lucknow employees are demanding payment by the same formula that was applied for payment to their counterpart in Delhi which was promised by the management at the time of final payment to them in January 1999.

................................................................................................

"Besides, the registered office of the company in Lucknow was closed in 1999, earlier than the branch office in Delhi which stopped publication of the paper in 2008, and the Lucknow employees are also demanding wages for this period. 

"Sinha said the meeting also demanded re-launch of the three newspapers and urged the chairman of Associated Journals Ltd. to hold a meeting with the union on their demands before the meeting of shareholders slated for January 21."

................................................................................................

"Jan 29 – 4 things I would do if I were the Finance Minister: Dr. Swamy 

It's unclear, except to those who know as much of the subject as Dr Subramanian Swamy does, if his ideas would benefit nation as he thinks. 

"In a wide ranging interview with ETV Rajasthan, in the program Aamne-Saamne with host Dr. Anita Hada Sangwan, Dr. Subramanian Swamy was his erudite self as he listed four things that he would do, if he were to be the Finance Minister:

"Abolish Personal Income Tax - To boost India's economy, the government should do something that immediately has a positive effect on people's mindset and that would be the step of abolishing Personal Income Tax. The fiscal fallout of this can be managed in many ways, including auction of Coal mining, Telecommunications Spectrum etc.

"Simplify Excise Duties - There are about 2788 commodities on which Excise duties are levied today. Of these, the government gets 90% of the revenue from the top 21. Therefore, simplify the Excise duties, remove the 2767 items and in the remaining 21, make it standard for each commodity (i. e. do not have sub-classification e. g. Fiber/ Cotton/ Rayon etc.)

"Enable Agriculture in India - India is one of the cheapest producers of Agriculture based products. The Government should encourage this sector by making it easy for farmers to store/ ship/ process goods they make. India is one of the few countries in the world that allows agricultural production year-round and the government should take steps to ensure that this is enabled to the fullest extent. It may need India to engage with the rest of the World in WTO by rationalizing tariffs etc.

"Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) - Allow FDI only in those projects that come with technical know how. Retailers such as Walmart, if allowed, will obliterate the small Mom and Pop stores in the country because of the lower interest rate that they enjoy in the United States.

................................................................................................

"He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a definite plan in his mind in terms of how he wants to approach India-Pakistan relations and that the country should give him room to execute it rather than scrutinizing and second guessing his every move. Answering to a question as to whether he was disappointed about not being a part of the Cabinet, he replied that he neither asked for it nor wanted it and therefore there is no question of being disappointed."

"On the issue of Rahul Gandhi's British citizenship issue[10], he stated that Rahul Gandhi himself has stated his British Citizenship in his filings (he was the Company Secretary) and therefore knew fully well what he was doing."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Feb 05 – Why would RaGa, SoGa appeal the HC verdict in Supreme Court? 

"In the National Herald case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, on Thursday Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi moved the Supreme Court demanding the Delhi High Court order rejecting their plea against their summoning by a trial court."

Author of that paragraph above, whether author of the book or not, has left not only the sentence incomplete but the vital bit left out. 

Something akin to, say, "be quashed" needs be inserted at the end. 

"Besides challenging the high court's December 7, 2015 order, both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have sought the stay of the proceedings before the trial court till their plea was decided by the top court and the grant of exemption from personal appearance before the lower court.

"“Stay the proceedings of complaint case under sections 403, 406, 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, pending in the court of the metropolitan magistrate, till the disposal of the present SLP,” read the prayer in the petition by Sonia Gandhi.

................................................................................................

"Both the Gandhis have sought exemption from personal appearance before the trial court but said that they would appear before the trial court as and when “desired by the magistrate in accordance with law.”

"Apart from the Gandhis, accused Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey have also moved the apex court against the high court order.

"The Congress leaders have also challenged the high court order on the grounds of it going into the merits of the case and making adverse observations.

................................................................................................

"In her petition, Sonia Gandhi says that on “one hand, the high court holds that the actions of the accused 'smacks of criminality', and in the same breath goes on to hold that 'what species of criminal offence’ is made out is not required to be seen at this initial stage.”

"The approach “is untenable in law. It is submitted that 'criminality' cannot be divorced from the offences prescribed under the Penal Code. If the ingredients of the offences alleged are not at all made out even prima facie, there cannot be any 'criminality'“, she said in her plea."

One notices that criminals, having committed financial crimes quite deliberately, then resort to such arguments. 

"On the question of locus of Swamy in the matter, the Congress leader has pointed out that “interestingly, a single judge (of the high court) himself raised the question of locus standi. Even before the petitioners went ahead with their arguments, the complainant was asked to assist in the matter qua the issue of locus standi.” 

................................................................................................

"The high court had rejected the plea of Gandhis, as well as Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, Gandhi family friend Dubey and party leader Oscar Fernandes against the summons issued by the trial court on June 26, 2015 on Swamy's complaint alleging “cheating” in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) by Young Indian Ltd. (YIL) - “a firm in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi each own a 38 percent stake.”

"Swamy had claimed that both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as majority shareholders of YIL, benefited from the acquisition of AJL. 

"He had alleged that AJL had received an interest-free loan of Rs.90.25 crores ($13.33 Million) from the Congress and that the party transferred the debt to YIL for Rs.50 lakhs.

"At the time, AJL, which had Vora as its chairman, claimed that it could not repay the loan and agreed to transfer the company and its assets to YIL.

"The Congress, while challenging the summons before the high court, had contended that Swamy was a political opponent, and the criminal proceedings were initiated only with an intent to secure an oblique political objective. They had contended that the complaint made by Swamy against them was only “allegations without any supporting proof.”"

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Feb 12 – Supreme Court likely to hear Sonia, Rahul plea in Herald case on Friday 

" ... In a detailed FAQ posted on the party web site1, Congress tried to downplay this case as an internal matter as National Herald was started by Congress Party in the thirties."

As Dr.Subramanian Swamy pointed out when another channel said so, no, it's neither internal nor family matter, much less personal; when AJIL was begun it had been donated to and invested in by thousands of Indians out of their meager earnings, and India has a right to question when the properties given by India to this corporation, for a purpose, are subsequently treated as private commercial properties, which was explicitly forbidden at the very outset. 

................................................................................................

"Besides challenging the high court order of December 7, 2015, both the Gandhis have sought the stay of the proceedings before the trial court till their plea was decided by the top court and grant of exemption from personal appearance before the lower court.

"However, they have said that they would appear before the trial court as and when “desired by the magistrate in accordance with law.”"

Well, the whole scam they were perpetrating until they were exposed by Dr Subramanian Swamy was to circumvent the law in the flimsiest manner, so thinly veiled that anyone without proficiency in either law or accountancy can comprehend the said expose by Dr Subramanian Swamy. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Feb 13 – Supreme Court orders Gandhis back to Patiala house for the NH-case 

"Refusing to set aside the Delhi High Court's 26-page dismissal order on December 7, 2015 in the National Herald case, the Supreme Court on Friday directed Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Vice President Rahul Gandhi and others to appear before the Magistrate in the Patiala Court complex. Making it clear that they were not going to reverse the high court order, Justice Khehar said that their interference would be limited to the adverse inferences and conclusions by the high court.

"A bench of Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice C. Nagappan also exempted the Gandhis and others from personal appearances, noting that their presence in the trial court would cause more “inconvenience, than convenience.” However, it added that the trial court was free to have their presence as and when needed."

................................................................................................

"“On factual position in paragraph 31 and conclusion in paragraph 39 of the High Court judgment, we are of the view that it will not be open (for trial) court recording any findings based on conclusions and same has to be decided after recording of the evidence. So, paragraph 31 and paragraph 39 are expunged,” the court said."

This amounts to letting the criminals go scot-free, unless another court repeats exactly those observations. 

"The High Court in paragraph 31, while holding that a political party was free to tap other avenues to augment its income, however said that the allegations against the Congress office bearers are that of “siphoning off the party funds in a clandestine manner.”

"Questioning the propriety of the party “extending interest free loans to a separate legal entity i. e. AJL“, it had said that “what crops up in the mind of a prudent person is as to where was the need of extending interest free loans to a public limited company engaged in a commercial venture of publishing newspapers.”

"In paragraph 39, it had said: “After having considered the entire case in its proper perspective, this court finds no hesitation to put it on record that the modus operandi adopted by petitioners in taking control of AJL via special purpose vehicle i.e. YI, particularly, when the main persons in Congress party, AJL and YI are the same, evidences a criminal intent.”

"“Whether it is cheating, criminal misappropriation or criminal breach of trust is not required to be spelt out at this nascent stage,” it said."

Presumably "it" at the end there refers to apex court, and the statement implies that the paragraphs aren't expunged permanently, but can be brought in at a later stage. 

"Directing Gandhis and others to appear before the trial court, the high court had said it could not be argued that no case for their summoning has been made out, and the “questionable conduct” of petitioners needs to be properly examined at the charge stage to find out the truth and so, these criminal proceedings cannot be thwarted at this initial stage."

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"Feb 23 – RaGa’s British Bank account revealed 

"Rahul Gandhi must be cringing every time Subramanian Swamy makes a trip overseas! Details of his Bank account in England tumbled out along with the revelations that both his “pseudonym” Raul Vinci (allegedly used for security purposes) and his real name Rahul Gandhi reside at 2 Frognal Way, London NW3 6XE. We have covered this in the past about RaGa's company Backops Limited[12].

"Rahul Gandhi's British nationality and company details and allegations that he may have received kickbacks in Defence deals has been extensively documented in this site and elsewhere[13]. Here is a detailed list on where all things Rahul Gandhi stand as of now:

................................................................................................

"British Nationality of Rahul Gandhi - This issue is now currently in Ethics Committee in Lok Sabha. L K Advani is the Chairman[14]. The findings are still awaited. In a routinely used strategy, an advocate M L Sharma, filed a sloppy Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition on this in the Supreme Court, which was rejected[15]. Congress promptly claimed that because of this, there was no merit in the allegations. 

"Scorpene submarine deal - Subramanian Swamy had alleged that Rahul Gandhi's company received kickbacks in the Scorpene Deal signed by India with the French Company DCNS. There have been no updates on this except for the Navy buying three more Scorpene submarines[16].

"National Herald case, Money Laundering - In August 2014, it was announced that ED would be probing the case from a Money Laundering angle. The findings are still awaited[17]."

Considering the properties owned by AJIL and their illegal usage attempted by the family via transfer shenanigans, calling it only money laundering rather than humongous embezzlement is akil to calling, say, Mallya a pickpocket. 

................................................................................................

Author provides photograph of the letter from Dr Subramanian Swamy to ED, pointing out the irregularity regarding a self declared British citizen - Rahul Gandhi - being member of Parliament of India, legally not permitted by India, and asking him to declare the seat as vacant. 

Why this was not promptly done is a question that needs to be dealt with. 

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"Mar 22 – Peon gets his “15 minutes fame” 

"The courtroom in Patiala House under Justice Lovleen was jampacked. A reluctant Congress asked for more time to release its account books for the year 2010-2011. Justice Loveleen then set Friday, April 8 to get Congress to submit its yearly accounts books during the scam interval of 2010-2011 in the National Herald case (NHCase). 

"The court also asked Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), publisher of National Herald, to produce its accounts for the above-mentioned period.

"Metropolitan Lovleen's strict instructions came after the battery of lawyers representing the Congress party requested the court for more time to check out the March 11 order for making the accounts.

"Congress was supposed to have submitted the documents today. At one-point, the attorneys even said that there was only a peon in the AICC office who had obtained it and the summons was received by them just on Saturday. Senior lawyers R S Cheema, Ramesh Gupta and Badar Mahmood argued saying, “Summons was not clear as to whether it was for 2010, 2011 or for both.” There was no senior leader at that stage to refer it to, the lawyers said, even as they produced the peon as evidence to vindicate their state. The Peon got his “15 minutes of fame.”

................................................................................................

"Hearing this discussion, plaintiff Subramanian Swamy quipped that the AICC office was a “haunted house” and that these were all smart justifications to delay the process. He urged the magistrate to provide stern directions.

"The lawyers also contended that Swamy had already shown AJL's balance sheets and there is certainly no demand to re-create them again. Lawyers also showed the magistrate printouts of some tweets of Swamy. 

"“We are being taken for a ride. The records summoned are already on the record of the court. It's just for the objective of marketing that the complainant has filed this charge as he has been 'tweeting' concerning this circumstance from his social network account Twitter,” stated R S Cheema.

"Swamy countered that the magistrate has requested for the account books of AJL throughout the scam period of 2010-11 and that the balance sheets should be made available in the public domain. He said that Registrar of Business authorities was summoned earlier to verify who the directors in AJL were throughout the applicable period rather than for the point of just checking the balance sheets.

................................................................................................

"Meanwhile, the Income Tax department submitted files in a sealed cover. Another five Government departments such as Urban Development Ministry and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have previously submitted the files a week ago.

"Motilal Vora, the AICC treasurer and an accused in the case, has already challenged the magistrate’s order summoning Government documents from six departments, with the next hearing in the case scheduled on April 4 in the Delhi High Court. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi have also filed a petition in this regard before the magistrate for seeking a revision of the order."

Later development shows the mindset of the half axis descendents and the axis DNA erstwhile president of the party, in this context; now that the since then late Motilal Vora is no longer able to defend himself, the family has conveniently blamed hom for all wrongdoings, claiming they only signed everything he asked them to; but since that only enriched them, at least one media house had courage to question such a possibility. 

"In an earlier hearing, the magistrate decided to put the Government documents in the sealed cover considering the case being heard in the High Court. Swamy on Monday argued that as there was no stay from the High Court, the sealed cover may be opened, which was objected to by the Congress lawyers."

"Noted political commentator, Swaminathan Gurumurthy observed caustically that there were no records of Congress ever having transferred the 90 crores to AJL - rather these were Black money transactions of Motilal Vora!"

Very revealing, the tweets by the senior journalist Gurumurthy, produced here by author in photographs. 

" ... The best one-liner that comes to mind about this case is of how Motilal Vora, the treasurer of Young Indian, asks through AJL whose treasurer is Motilal Vora, of Congress whose treasurer too is Vora (!), a loan of 90 crores."

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................................................................................................

"Apr 19 – Delhi HC reserves judgment 

"Lawyers try to slow down #NHCase, appealing to Delhi High Court to deny access to files 

"Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on pleas filed by Congress leaders against the trial court order summoning files from Ministries of Finance and Corporate Matters, other agencies along with the balance sheet of the party for 2010-2011 in the National Herald case. It is expected that this judment will be out before May 5th, when the trial resumes in the Patiala Court.

"“Order allowed,” Justice P S Teji said following the counsel appearing for petitioners concluded their rebuttal arguments in the problem.

................................................................................................

" ... Speculation is rife that the money supposedly given by Congress may not have originated from the party. For more on this, refer to the tweets of S Gurumurthy on this case[21].

"Swamy had earlier contended that the high court should dismiss these pleas seeking stay on both trial court's conclusion, like the one summoning the 2010-11 balance sheet of the Indian National Congress (INC) in relation to the case."

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"Jun 01 – India - Global Economic Power, Dr. Swamy can show the way... 

"Dr. Swamy is the most sought & heard leaders in India today; his lectures these days are jam packed with enthusiastic youth, women, and others attending in huge numbers. His popularity is growing tremendously with his Nation First, India First initiative. The call to take pride with our Culture, tradition, heritage have struck a chord with the youth of the nation and they are flocking to hear him and has resulted in him being the most viewed and liked leader on the net.

"Dr. Swamy is a firm believer that Economic development must be based not only on material output and economic services but also on ancient Hindu spiritual values. These values are codified as Sanatana Dharma. The western world is studying our ancient scripture and decoding it to enhance their overall knowledge.

"During his initial days (early 70s’) in Indian politics, when Dr. Swamy called for denouncing the Soviet Union economic model and propagated an open market economy & Swadeshi Plan, the then PM Indira Gandhi called it ‘dangerous’ because “it is much like a Santa Claus.” Much Later, in 1991 Dr. Swamy's blueprint helped PM PV Narasimha Rao implement Economic reforms and opened up the Indian markets.

"Dr. Swamy strongly advocates Integral Humanism, among the guiding precepts of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Economic policy presented by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya."

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was murdered in a first class compartment of a train near Delhi while travelling, during the first tenure of the then PM Indira Gandhi, before 1971. His murder remains unsolved. He was only the second of the leaders of non-congress, non-leftist parties with values rooted in India, first being Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, to die of causes other than illness or old age, in prime of life and political career. There have been many, since then. 

................................................................................................

"Referred to as the One-Man Army, he is a maverick, and his precisely guided missiles are always on target. He has the distinction of ousting two Governments at the centre - one which was the Indira Gandhi goovrtnmrnt, in 1977, which was dictatorial, Anti-democratic and declared Emergency and curbed fundamental rights. He went underground and fought for restoring Democracy. Later, most recently in 2014, he is credited with exposing the UPA Regime’s corruption with his legal acumen and the ruling party lost the election.

"1. Daring act during Emergency in 1975: The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had imposed a state of Emergency in India in the mid-1975. Arrest warrants were issued against many including Swamy. However, he managed to escape from India and flew to Colombo and onward to United States of America. Who would dare to step-in to the Parliament on a working day, if he has an arrest warrant against his name? Well, Dr. Subramanian Swamy did just that. On 10th August 1976 it took everyone by surprise in the House and once again, donning the disguise of a Sardar (Sikh) he managed to flee India.

"2. Access to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra: It is not a hidden fact that Swamy’s relations with officials on foreign land have been rock-solid despite drawing criticism within the country. It was Swamy’s effort in 1981 that he managed for the Hindu devotees to get an access for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. His meeting with the then China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping normalized the issue, and the pilgrimage route was re-opened."

That alone should get him a place in India's heart! But there's more. 

Much, much more. 

................................................................................................

"3. Brainchild of Economic reforms in 1991: Dr. Subramanian Swamy was a member of Planning Commission and Union minister of Commerce, Law and Justice during the period of 1990-91. Not many know that the blueprint of the landmark economic reforms was prepared by Swamy and not Manmohan Singh. Swamy prepared it under the prime ministership of Chandra Shekhar Singh, but Manmohan Singh only carried it out as a Finance Minister during PV Narasimha Rao’s prime ministership. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has acknowledged Dr. Swamy ‘s contribution in preparing the Economic blueprint for implementation."

Sanjaya Baru credits the two erstwhile PMs, mentioned above, but not Dr Subramanian Swamy, in this context. 

This omission brings him discredit, more than anything else, so far. 

................................................................................................

"4. The drama by Sonia Gandhi sacrificing PM’s post – busted! It was widely propagated by a section of media that Sonia Gandhi had sacrificed the post of Prime Minister, but it was not the truth. Congress President Sonia President after winning the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections had put forward her name to President APJ Abdul Kalam, to be the next Prime Minister of India, with a letter of support signed by the party MP’s. But it was Subramanian Swamy’s letter to President that made Kalam persuade Sonia Gandhi to not make her a Prime Minister. However, the former President has refuted the claims, but Swamy has challenged the former President’s version."

Whatever his credit otherwise, this certainly diminishes the late ex-president. 

................................................................................................

"5. Electronic Voting Machines’ (EVM) fraud: Dr. Subramanian Swamy demanded an independent committee should be appointed to investigate the authenticity and security of EVMs as they are tamper prone. Swamy gave the examples of how the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and Netherlands have abandoned the method and have resorted to paper-ballot system. It was because of Swamy’s efforts that Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was introduced in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

"6.Exposing the 2G Scam: Everyone knows that the 2G Scam under UPA-regime caused a loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crores to the national exchequer as per a CAG report. Dr. Subramanian Swamy was the first person to write to PM Manmohan Singh seeking permission to prosecute the then Telecom Minister A. Raja and asked the CBI to come out with a detailed report on the matter. Manmohan Singh paid no heed to it and consequently Swamy had to file a case himself in the Supreme Court. And the rest, as they say is history.

................................................................................................

"7. The Airlines scam in India’s Aviation sector after the 2G license cancellation by SC was also challenged by Dr. Swamy in SC. There is a close link between 2G Scam and the Airline Scam. One in particular, is Indian Airlines selling its stake to a Middle East Airlines funded by dubious anti-national forces. Also, permission to allow two JV Airlines to a particular corporate who had initiated Aviation business in India in the late 1940s; thereafter its nationalisation vowed never to enter this sector. This deal is viewed as compensating the losses (BRIBE GIVEN TO PRECURE 2G LICENCES ILLEGALLY) incurred due to 2G License cancellation by SC.

"8. Challenging the Madras High Court in Nataraja Temple case: Dr. Subramanian Swamy filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court order. Madras High Court had ruled that the administration of the Nataraja Temple should be handed over to then Tamil Nadu government in 2009. The case eventually was ruled in favour of Swamy. (Not many know that Swamy is a lawyer by practice and not degree.)

................................................................................................

"9. Taking the Gandhis’ head-on in National Herald Case: Known fondly for his one-man army tactics, Subramanian Swamy has taken on the Gandhi family by himself for years now. Swamy has accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes and Motilal Vohra in the funds embezzlement case (National Herald Case). Swamy accused the Gandhis of setting up another company named Young Indian to pay the debt using Congress’ party funds. Now the matter is in Delhi sessions court with Sonia-Rahul Gandhi and other Congress members appearing as accused, out on bail. The charges will be framed very shortly. But for now, not letting Sonia Gandhi escape away in National Herald remains the topmost priority.

"10. National Hindu Renaissance: The next mission on Subramanian Swamy’s agenda is to bring a National Hindu Renaissance into force. His ideology of uniting the majority (Hindu) votes and dividing the minority (Muslim) votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections provided rich dividends for the saffron party. However, bringing a renaissance in India remains his top priority now. The latest PT (Patriotic Tweeples) and Virat Hindustan Sangam’ initiative is a small indicator to it. Implementing the Uniform Civil Code and scrapping Article 370, Building Ram Mandir at Ayodhya by 2016 -17 are the other priorities.

................................................................................................

"11. Successfully saved Ram Sethu being commercially exploited and damaged, destroyed by UPA Congress, DMK Govt during 2005. He single-handedly fought the case in the Supreme Court (SC) and won a favourable judgement. In the process, Ram Sethu is going to be declared as a National Heritage site of historical importance.

"12. The high-profile JJ, CM – TN, disproportionate assets case, in which she had to go to jail is Dr. Swamy’s fight against corruption and he is the first petitioner in the case. At present, the matter is in the SC and a final verdict is expected next month."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Jun 25 – Shaktikanta Das and his role in NH cases 

Here, author returns to accusing Arun Jaitley, again without evidence provided for benefit of the reader. 

It's unclear why, either way. 

"While Subramanian Swamy tweeted about the Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das for his links with former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Das was a “disciplined” officer, rebutting Swamy. The tussle between Swamy and this powerful bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry goes back a long way."

Considering that the case finally broke only after UPA was out of power and a BJP led by PM Modi began its tenure, and that Arun Jaitley was very much part of the cabinet in the government in its first run, and only out in the second after 2019 due to his deteriorating health - he expired soon thereafter - its hard to imagine why, either the opposition after 2014 or Lutyens media, having taken every opportunity to abuse and lie against the government, would not at the very least name Arun Jaitley, in either this or the other - NDTV - context of humongous embezzlement, as this author does repeatedly, if there were a shred of truth, or any factual evidence, to support any of it. 

Why would the opposition after 2014, or the Lutyens cabal, be silent on this opportunity to shame the Modi government, and instead go on with false accusations, and to cast casteist and other unseemly slurs - based on lack of family wealth and status - instead? 

So one must wonder, does author have a personal grudge against the since expired ex-minister, late Arun Jaitley? 

................................................................................................

"Swamy started attacking Das for his role in Aircel Maxis case to protect Chidambaram. Those days Das was the Revenue Secretary. Enforcement Directorate (ED) comes under the Revenue Secretary. In January 2014, the then Finance Minister moved out Rajeshwar Singh, Enforcement Directorate’s Deputy Director and Investigation Officer of 2G and Aircel-Maxis cases. As Investigating Officer Singh was directly reporting to Supreme Court’s 2G Bench, which was monitoring these high-profile cases. Chidambaram was waiting for the retirement of Justice G S Singhvi in December 2013. As Singhvi was a tough judge, Chidambaram was well-aware of the repercussions of changing an Investigating Officer.

"Since 1990, several courts have given strong directions to the Government for not changing the Investigating Officers in sensitive cases till the end of the trial. Within days of Justice Singhvi’s exit, Chidambaram removed the non-pliant officer Rajeshwar Singh from the ED, despite Singh being recommended by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for absorption. This was an unprecedented action on part of the Finance Ministry. The officer joined the ED from Uttar Pradesh Police service on deputation and UPSC recommended his permanent absorption in ED.

................................................................................................

"Swamy challenged Finance Ministry’s move. Though Supreme Court ordered Rajeshwar Singh’s re-instatement in the ED in April 2014, the order was not implemented. When the new Government came, Swamy again approached the Supreme Court in October 2014 about the inaction on part of the Finance Ministry in re-instating Rajeshwar Singh[22]. Was Chidambaram controlling the Finance Ministry through pliant officers? That time CBI and ED’s Advocate was K K Venugopal in 2G related matters. Venugopal strongly objected to Finance Ministry’s dubious moves against Supreme Court appointed Investigating Officers.

"A day before the arguments were to commence, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das changed K K Venugopal and fielded Nageswara Rao as ED’s Advocate[23]. Nageswara Rao was then an Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) appointed by the UPA and is currently a judge in the Supreme Court.

"Nageswara Rao under the instructions of Revenue Department told the Supreme Court in September 2014 that all the probe in Aircel Maxis case by ED is over and that there was no need for maintaining the Investigating Officer Rajeshwar Singh. Swamy blasted Rao in the Court. K K Venugopal also took Finance Ministry to task for its distortions in the Court. The Supreme Court passed a stern direction to Ministry to absorb Rajeshwar Singh in three working days slamming the Finance Ministry[24].

"Even after Supreme Court’s direction, Revenue Department went ahead with a service case against Rajeshwar Singh’s absorption by UPSC. In all legal forums Finance Ministry lost the case including Central Administrative Tribunal and the Delhi High Court[25]. Was this punishment to Rajeshwar Singh for raiding Chidambaram’s son Karti and his companies in Aircel Maxis case? Even today, Finance Ministry’s appeal is pending before Supreme Court in Service Case for Delhi High Court ratifying CAT’s order to permanently absorb the officer in ED. Was Das delaying due promotions to Rajeshwar Singh by conducting a service case?

"So, when the Finance Minister gives a certificate to Shaktikanta Das as a “disciplined officer”, it opens it up for interpretation of what constitutes being “disciplined”[26].

................................................................................................

"During the period when Das was Revenue Secretary, the ED under him in mid-2015 even tried to block the probe in the National Herald case. After the trial court found prima-facie evidence, Swamy filed petition to the ED for registering cases for money laundering in National Herald deals. In those days ED’s chief was Rajan Katoch, a UPA appointee and a cousin of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Both Das and Katoch tried to scuttle the case. After Swamy’s complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi6, Katoch was shunted out from ED and Shaktikanta Das was shifted out from the powerful Revenue Department which controls ED, Income Tax, Customs, and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

"Some thoughts to ponder: 

"1. Is Dr. Swamy justified in his observations of Shaktikanta Das? 

"2. Why is Mr. Jaitley being so sensitive to a tweet by Dr. Swamy? 

"3. Is the NDA government finding it difficult to get things moving thanks to such “disciplined” officers?"

Good questions, there. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Aug 12 – Swamy urges Urban Development Ministry to take over Herald House 

"Sharpening his attack in the National Herald case, Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a petition to the Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu demanding taking over the controversial Herald House building. In his petition, he said that the Herald House was appropriated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi by floating a private company called Young Indian and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which allotted the land should take back the entire building.

"DDA allotted land to Associated Journal Limited (AJL) for printing and publishing of National Herald and other two newspapers in Hindi and Urdu. The Herald House in the Delhi’s prime land in the ITO Press Enclave is worth over Rs.1000 crores ($150 million). AJL got the land from DDA at a very cheap rate for newspaper publication activity and it has stopped the publication activity in 2008. Now AJL is taken over by Sonia and Rahul by floating a company called Young Indian in 2010 in questionable ways to take procession of this property and building, said Swamy. ... "

And there's the clear evidence of an intentionally perpetrated financial crime, by whatever name. 

"“DDA now has the right to enter the said premises and take it over because it is being misused by Young Indian for collecting rent at exorbitant rates by letting out the premises to a number of corporate parties and the Passport of MEA,” said Swamy. The passport Seva Kendra is paying around more than Rs. 80 lakhs ($120,000) as rent per month to the controllers of Herald House.

"Swamy said that from the trial court to Supreme Court has ratified the prima facie cheating and fraud in the case, the DDA should take over the building as the land belong to it. AJL lost all right to continue in the building from 2008, as when they stopped the publishing activity, he said.

"“Many also say that the AJL properties in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai have been taken over by the respective state governments since my complaint case was filed in the Patiala House Courts. Hence, I urge you to do the same thing with the Herald House on the Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi,” said Swamy.

"Next hearing of the National Herald case in the trial court is on August 20. Swamy said he will file a fresh petition for seeking documents from the Congress party, AJL and other government departments."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Aug 27 – Court issued notice to Sonia, Rahul on Swamy’s plea for summoning documents 

"Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Saturday issued notices to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Vice President Rahul Gandhi and other five accused in National Herald case to respond to a fresh plea of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking certain documents from the Congress party, Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) and Government departments. Magistrate directed all the accused to respond within two weeks and the case was fixed for arguments on October 4.

"In his application, Swamy has sought a series of documents relating to the controversial loan given by the Congress to the AJL, the publisher of the National Herald. Swamy said in his petition that these documents are crucial for trial. He also sought documents from Income Tax and Registrar of Companies also.

"Earlier trial court had summoned documents in January and February. But Congress leaders challenged the trial court’s order in High Court citing that they were not heard before issuing summoning. All the government departments had submitted documents in sealed covers. Delhi High Court had quashed the trail court summons citing error in procedures, while allowing Swamy to file fresh applications for the documents.

................................................................................................

"Seeking Rs. 90 crores ($13.4 million) controversial loan documents are a nightmare for Congress party because there was no proper accounting for this transaction, which was described as dubious and a doubtful one by the trial court.

"Putting Congress party and its leadership in a fix, Swamy has sought the Income Tax returns of Congress party during 2010-2011, the scam period. It is well known that these documents would create problems for the accused as it would puncture the Congress claims on giving loans for the newspaper publishing company. Besides political parties giving loan for commercial activity it is illegal as per Income Tax and Election Commission norms.

"Moreover, Sonia and Rahul would be in a spot of bother to explain the curious accounting by their company Young Indian’s takeover of Congress party’s loan claim of Rs.90 crores ($13.4 million) to AJL for just Rs.50 lakhs ($74,000)."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Sep 06 – Would reviving newspapers help the Gandhis in the NHCase? 

"MR Venkatesh, a noted TV Commentator, author of several books and a Chartered Accountant weighs in on the recent decision of Associated Journals Limited to renew the defunct newspapers and its effect, if any on the pending National Herald case (NHCase) against the Gandhis and others.

................................................................................................

"Q: Talking about the National Herald scam Associated Journal (AJL), recently announced that National Herald and other related publications will be resumed under Neelam Mishra. How does this affect the NH case if at all? 

"M R Venkatesh: See this NH case has nothing to do with what they publish, or they don't publish. They didn't publish was one of our last arguments and that has nothing to do with the facts and matters of the case as Dr. Swamy argued before the courts. As far as I am concerned, this will not weigh on the minds of the judge and they should not, also because this is irrelevant to the case. Now, how you put a stolen asset to use is the least of the problem of the Court. The Court is worried whether an asset was obtained in an illegal way or not that is the challenge before the Court.  

"The court agrees to what Dr. Swamy has suggested and believes that these assets of National Herald or AJL were acquired illegally, then obviously it has to penalize those people who are arraigned as accused number 126 in a manner known to law. Supposing, the Court feels that they have not done anything wrong, it is going to allow them to go scot-free. Now, this publication may be of irrelevance, it's irrelevant news to the Court because it doesn't alter the factum of the case and to that extent, this has to be ignored.

................................................................................................

"Q: So, is this just a gimmick to try and fool the people to put a spin on the case? And what would be the counter-narrative to this?  

"M R Venkatesh: See the fact of the matter is that this has been given wide publicity in the local media, suggests that obviously that an attempted spin was given. It is not a spin, it is an attempted spin, let me make it very clear. To suggest that, here are a set of people who honestly want to revive the National Herald and hence, they are hiring even so and so and they are starting the production of this paper on a daily basis or a weekly basis. But how does it alter the fact that this is an asset that you have acquired illegally? So, obviously, this spin will be there, and this spin comes out because you don't have any legal answer to the queries post by Dr. Swamy. So, unless that is settled, all these are definitely not going to impress anyone much less the courts and the courts are going to be focused on only one thing whether the assets were accused are quite legally or otherwise. And if legally they are going to allow people to go scot-free and if it is illegal and then they are going to be punished.

................................................................................................

"Q:  Can a PIL be filed to stay this development, quoting the ongoing litigation or can this be challenged in the current litigation itself?  

"M R Venkatesh: No, frankly, I don't know, because I am only there as a witness, I don't know what Dr. Swamy is thinking about this particular matter. As far as I am concerned, all the documents which are required in terms of establishing the prima facie case were provided to the court and Dr. Swamy has again gone to the Court seeking some extra documents, which I understand, he wants both of us parties namely the Congress and the National Herald to provide him so that he can buttress his point and also establish as evidence as to what went wrong in the entire transaction. Now in this matter, I am sure Dr. Swamy is not going to waste time, as to who becomes the editor of a particular journal or not, this is the least of his problems, but I am sure it is eminently possible that probably that there are certain lawyers who will do this for a very small fee in Delhi. And they probably get motivation from Congress and I'm sure the viewer can understand what I mean, that they would go to the Court and probably even get it dismissed and then hail it as a moral victory before they come to the court. I'm sure that such buffoonery doesn't impress the Court too often and with such strong legal team that Dr. Swamy has and putting in the points very succinctly in the Court. I'm sure he will be able to impress upon, whether the journal is revived or not is irrelevant and let us focus only on the scheme of things."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Sep 18 – Sonia and Rahul object to summoning of documents in NH case. 

"Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the other five accused in the National Herald case objected to Subramanian Swamy’s petition to summon new documents. In a six-page reply submitted before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, the Congress leaders accused that Swamy is on a “fishing and roving” inquiry and is attempting to open a new case against them with these documents."

Why object, if their affairs were clean, legitimate and above board? 

"Sonia and Rahul specifically objected to Swamy’s demand of summoning Congress party’s Income Tax statements of 2010-2011 the period during which the scam occurred. “That the application preferred by the Complainant (Swamy) under Sec 91 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is vague and devoid of material particulars and is ‘in the nature of fishing and roving enquiry’ which is not permissible in the law. Courts have time and again deprecated attempts to use Sec 91 CrPC for such a roving and fishing inquiry,” said the joint reply filed by Sonia, Rahul, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Young Indian, the controversial company floated by Sonia and Rahul to dubiously acquire National Herald publishing company Associated Journals Limited."

Are criminals allowed to use court remarks to that effect, in their refusal to provide law with search of premises, which, until evidence is found, is tantamount to fishing? 

................................................................................................

"Accusing Swamy of seeking so many documents, the Congress leaders said that Swamy’s intention is to create a new case against them with these new documents. They said Swamy is going beyond the scope of enquiry and not divulging the need of the new documents."

Aren't Congress and AJIL public institutions? Why aren't their accounts and other such matters required to be available publicly, on internet? 

Secrecy, in particular, smacks of criminality. 

"“That the fundamental issue for consideration while going into the merits of the application revolves around the fact as to whether at this stage the complainant can go beyond the scope of enquiry in the complaint under the trial. The Complainant through this application is seeking to call for documents without divulging their necessity and desirability on the basis of the allegations made by him in his complaint. Thereby the complainant seeks to access documents in an attempt to make out a new case. The endeavour of the Complainant of not providing a list of witness also shows the malafide nature of the current petition,” said the Congress leaders."

Again, if Congress and AJIL were clean, why demand list of witnesses, except to browbeat, intimidate,  blackmail, threaten, or worse, finish them off before they could appear? 

................................................................................................

"Swamy’s demand to summon the accounts and Income Tax statement of Congress party during the scam period (2010-2011) is vehemently objected by the Congress top brass. This Income Tax statement of the scam period is expected to be boomerang on Sonia, Rahul, Vora who always claimed that the Congress party’s transfer of Rs. 90 crores ($13.41 million) to Associated Journals Limited. Moreover, Income Tax authorities have unearthed dubious companies based in Kolkata transferring money to Congress as donation, which ultimately reached in Young Indian, which is totally illegal. Congress leaders said as Congress party is not an accused; its accounts should not be called. The following tweets by noted Political Commentator, Accountant and Journalist S Gurumurthy shed light on the sources of funding (see Figure 34, Figure 35).

"“That the complainant has sought documents from the Income Tax authorities regarding parties, which are not accused in the matter. In such a scenario, the Income Tax Act, 1961 contains Sections pertaining to confidentiality of Income Tax Records which prohibit disclosure of information of the assesses,” said Congress leaders citing several judgments on confidently of Income Tax statements."

Surely, if the nation understood that congress objects to Income Tax records of the party being disclosed, the nation will understand that the Congress party is hiding criminal financial transactions? 

Was that why congress has been reduced, from the humongous majority of Rajeev Gandhi's win, to a party with so few seats in parliament that it no longer qualifies even as opposition? 

And that Rahul Gandhi's family heritage, the Amethi parliament seat, was lost in 2019 to BJP? 

Perhaps the last bit was mostly on merit, though, since Rahul Gandhi had kept the seat in 2014 by a paltry margin of about 4,000 - unlike his great-grandfather whose sole opponent, always, got exactly one vote. (He - Kartar Singh Thatte - repeatedly fought the election, against the then PM, who was thereby very displeased, as a matter of principle, for democracy.) 

................................................................................................

"The Congress leaders also objected to summoning of documents from the Registrar of Companies (RoC). They said Swamy had already produced these documents. “To now again summon documents from RoC falls within the parameter of a fishing and roving enquiry, as the case has already been set up by the Complainant during the course of recording of pre-summoning evidence.” 

"The arguments on this matter of summoning documents are scheduled in the trial court on October 4. Trial court’s earlier order of summoning documents were challenged by the Congress leaders in Delhi High Court, citing that they were not heard. The High Court had quashed the order and documents were returned to the trial court, giving permission to Swamy to file a fresh application."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Nov 08 – ED summons Motilal Vora in Panchkula land deals 

"The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government is slowly but steadily proceeding against illegalities associated with the Congress leadership in the National Herald case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday summoned Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora in connection with its money laundering probe into irregularities in the allotment of a plot to Associated Journal Limited (AJL), publisher of the National Herald newspaper, in Haryana's Panchkula in 2005.

"Vora, the keeper of Congress accounts has been summoned under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for questioning on November 22. ED officials said Vora has been summoned by the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case in his capacity as the Chairman and Managing Director of the AJL.

"ED has already booked former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AJL officials and others on charges of alleged money laundering, taking cognisance of a Haryana State Vigilance Bureau FIR. The Vigilance Bureau had registered a case of cheating and corruption against Hooda and four officials who were in Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) for allegedly re-allotting a plot to AJL in Panchkula in 2005.

................................................................................................

"Meanwhile, the main National Herald case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is posted for arguments on December 9. Congress has vehemently objected to Swamy’s demand for summoning of documents from various government departments. He also demanded the Congress party to submit its balance sheets and accounts during the scam period of 2010-2011. On December 9, Swamy will continue his arguments, rebutting the Congress versions."

Author says something puzzling here. 

"ED and CBI have not acted on Swamy’s complaints against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi for breach of public trust, manipulations, cheating violating the provisions of government properties for newspaper publications and capturing the assets of AJL etc."

Is author serious, in saying "ED and CBI have not acted on Swamy’s complaints  ... "? 

Why didn't ’t they? 

Lutyens effect? 

................................................................................................

"Background of Panchkula land deal 

"The vigilance case was registered under various IPC sections, including criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating, criminal conspiracy and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, against Hooda, the then HUDA chairman, an ex-officio post held by him as the CM, and four other top officials of HUDA on May 5 this year.

"The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982. After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, then Haryana Vikas Party government led by Bansi Lal took back its possession. It was re-allotted to AJL after the Congress leader came to power in 2005.

"The Vigilance Bureau had alleged that the act by the then HUDA chairman and the officials had caused a huge financial loss to HUDA as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of being allotted again to AJL.

................................................................................................

"A separate FIR had been lodged in December last year by the state vigilance bureau against Hooda as the then chairman and chief administrator of HUDA for alleged irregularities in allotment of industrial plots in Panchkula three years ago. 

"There are similar kinds of irregularities in the allotments of land for National Herald in Mumbai, Bhopal, Indore. Maharashtra State Government has already initiated action on the irregularities and capturing of Mumbai land for publication of National Herald newspaper. On August 10th, Senior BJP leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy had written to Shri. Venkaiah Naidu asking him to direct Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to re-possess Herald House, located in a prime location in New Delhi[27]."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Nov 15 – National Herald website launch a cover-up to beg mercy from the Court? 

"Congress leadership has launched a website of the now defunct National Herald newspaper on November 14 – birth anniversary of founder Jawaharlal Nehru. The website http://www.nationalheraldindia.com/ is claimed as the digital edition of the paper and is seen as an attempt to beg mercy from the trial court in BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s watertight case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi with fraud, cheating and financial misappropriation charges. In this day and age, it is so easy to create a website and put a name on it and claim that it is newspaper which is what AJL appears to have done.

"“Associated Journals Limited“, a company founded in 1937 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, has launched the beta version of its English Website – www.nationalheraldindia.com starting today, November 14, 2016.

"“In keeping with the changing times, the newspaper group resumes phased publication as a multi-media outlet with a strong digital presence. The digital website will follow the same editorial vision and principles as that of our Founder, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It remains committed to furthering the values it has always cherished and the best values of the Freedom Movement – that of building a modern, democratic, just, equitable, liberal and socially harmonious nation, free of sectarian strife,” said the AICC Press Release[28].

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Here the question is the role of Young Indian, a private company floated by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with 38 percent of shares each to dubiously acquire the more than 1000 shareholders owned public limited company Associated Journals Ltd.’s (AJL) assets spanning Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Panchkula, Bhopal and Indore. Another issue is the Congress party’s illegal grant of loan of Rs.90 crores ($13.53 million) to AJL and valuing this loan for just Rs.50 lakhs ($74,000) by Young Indian and dubiously taking over more than 99 percent of the shares of AJL1. Questions have been asked if Congress even gave the loan to AJL or was it from a set of dubious shell companies based in Kolkata[29].

"National Herald newspaper became defunct in 2008 and Sonia and Rahul’s newly floated company took over the publishing company AJL in a covert manner in December 2010. When Subramanian Swamy exposed the fraud in November 2012, Congress leadership was parroting that they would soon resume the publishing of the newspaper. The entire lands across India were allotted to AJL by government at throw away prices to publish the newspaper and if the newspaper publishing activity is not doing, the government reserves the right to take back the land.

................................................................................................

"Swamy had already petitioned to Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu to take back the 1000-crores worth land and building in Delhi[30], citing no newspaper publishing is taking place for the past 8 years. He also sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe on the misappropriation of the public property by Sonia and Rahul. Maharashtra and Haryana Governments have already started action on taking back the lands allotted to National Herald.

"Somehow, even after Delhi High Court and Supreme Court ratified the prima facie case of cheating, fraud and financial misappropriation found by the trial court, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not yet acted. Next hearing of the case is on December 9, where Swamy is expected to resume his arguments for the need of documents from Government and submission of balance sheets and accounts of Congress party during the scam period 2010-2011.

"The launching of the website and claiming it as a digital edition is seen as a cover up by Congress leaders to beg mercy in court during the trial. A crime that has already been committed cannot be condoned and this launch of website is nothing but an argument in court for defending the indefensible crime."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 09 – Blast from the Past: Patel - Nehru letters exposes the frauds in fund collection for NH 

"The series of letters between Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru in May 1950 exposes that Nehru and his family members used National Herald (NH) as a tool for collecting money for awarding government contracts, even from undesirable elements also. Five such letters from the book – Sardar Patel’s Correspondence shows that Nehru was warned by Patel from accepting money rampantly by misusing the government machinery.

"On May 5, 1950, Patel warned Nehru about NH, saying it accepted money of more than Rs.75,000 from two undesirable persons belong to Himalayan Airways, which illegally bagged contract for night air mail service from government, over the objections of the Indian Air Force. In that letter the Home Minister Patel cautioned the Prime Minister that NH also accepted money from one dubious businessman Akhani for the night mail contracts for his flight company.

"Patel said that Akhani also collected money from “maneuvering” firms like Tatas and the Air Services of India. Akhani was then facing cheating charges in many courts for defrauding banks. Patel also cautioned Nehru about Union Minister Ahmed Kidwai was misusing office and collecting money for National Herald from Lucknow based dubious businessmen like JP Srivastava.

................................................................................................

"That day itself Nehru replied to Patel in a wishy-washy manner, pacifying Patel saying that he had asked his son-in-law and General Manager of National Herald, Feroze Gandhi to inquire about the illegal money collection. Seeing Nehru’s attitude Patel shot back next day on May 6, rebutting his claims. The Home Minister reiterated to Prime Minister, urged him to desist the practice of money collection in the name of National Herald from dubious persons for granting contracts from Government. All the five letters between Patel and Nehru are published at the end of this article, exposing the frauds in fund collection for the National Herald by Nehru family.

"Nehru replied back on May 6 trying to calm him, while not answering his specific findings of illegal funding. At one point Nehru claimed that for the past three years he has not had any links with National Herald and Feroze Gandhi and one Mridula is entrusted with raising funds for the newspaper. On some cases, Nehru admitted that mistakes happened."

Not Mrs Sarabhai? 

"Seeing Nehru’s style of protecting the fund collectors, Patel wrote the last letter on May 10, 1950. In his letter, Patel showed displeasure about Nehru protecting such dubious payments and reiterated that as Home Minister, he has found the disingenuity of such payments and persons associating with NH funding troubling."

Author gives photographs of the above-mentioned letters. 

................................................................................................

"Dec 09 – Court to decide on summoning documents in NH case on Dec 26 

"Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Friday is set to pronounce the order on December 26th on the issue of summoning documents from Government and Congress party in the National Herald case. Hearing the heated arguments between a battery of lawyers of Congress party and petitioner Subramanian Swamy for more than 90 minutes on the need of the documents in the politically sensitive case, Magistrate Lovleen declared pronouncement of orders on this regard.

"Lawyers of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi argued that Swamy was going on a “fishing and roving” exercise and that the Court should not allow his petition to summon documents from Income Tax and the Registrar of Companies. Advocates R S Cheema, Ramesh Gupta and Rebecca John vehemently objected to Swamy’s arguments. Swamy sought mainly documents related to the controversial Rs.90 crores transaction from Congress party and Associated Journals.

"The Courtroom witnessed heated exchanges between Swamy and Congress lawyers. Many a time, Congress lawyers said that the BJP leader was trying to create new cases against them from after getting new documents and his intentions were malicious. Swamy countered the arguments that accused cannot dictate what all the documents to be sought and urged the need for the documents which would expose the money laundering and illegalities in the National Herald scam.

................................................................................................

"Congress lawyers objected many times when Swamy provoked them on the contents of the Congress party’s balance sheets and account statements during the scam period in 2010-2011. Swamy provoked them by distributing the controversial letters between Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru during 1950 about the dubious collection of funds from controversial businessmen[31]. “Everyday Swamy is bringing some documents. This should not be permitted,” said Congress lawyers.

"“This is not the part of the case. I just wanted to show the history and the nature of frauds happening for a long time with this organization,” Swamy retorted, and handed over the copy of the letters to the Magistrate.

"Earlier in January, the Court allowed Swamy’s petition and all government documents submitted documents in a sealed cover. Congress leaders challenged trial court’s decision citing that they were not heard before passing the orders. Delhi High Court observed that trial court made an error by not hearing the arguments of the accused in this regard."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Dec 26 – Court dismisses Swamy’s petition for docs from Govt & Congress. Directs to file appropriate petition   

"The Metropolitan Magistrate on Monday dismissed BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition to seek documents from government departments and the Congress in the National Herald case. However, the Court asked Swamy to file the list of witnesses and gave him opportunity to file “appropriate” petition for summoning documents again during the trial, while terming his dismissed petition as “fishing inquiry” and trying to widen the scope of the case.

"“In the interests of justice, last opportunity is granted to the complainant to file the list of witnesses as undertaking by him previously and also to move appropriate application for summoning of records, if he so desires,” said the Order issued by Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen. According to this one-page order on Monday’s proceedings, Swamy has to submit reasons for each document he seeks during the trial.

"Swamy has sought more than 100 documents from the Income Tax department, Registrar of Companies, Congress and National Herald publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The 24-page Order, observed that Swamy “seemed to enlarge the scope of present proceedings.” Swamy termed this order as “perverse” one and said he will appeal.

................................................................................................

"Congress’s main objection was to seek the party’s balance sheet and accounts during scam period (2010-2011) when the new company Young Indian was floated by Sonia and Rahul and payments of Rs.90 crores was given from party to AJL.

"The Magistrate has asked Swamy to provide a list of witnesses by February 10, the next hearing of the case. The pre-charge evidence will start on this day and Swamy is supposed to file the list of witnesses and revised petition for specific documents."

"Earlier in January, the trial court had ordered for summoning of documents from government departments and the Congress. Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes challenged this decision in the Delhi High Court. The High Court had quashed the trial court’s order, citing the error in procedure for not seeking reply from the accused."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Apr 06 – CBI files FIR against Hooda and AJL in NH case – Sends shivers to Sonia and Rahul 

"With the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filing a First Information Report (FIR) against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and National Herald publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the shock waves have reached Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. CBI has registered an FIR against Hooda, AJL and officials for gross illegalities in the allotment of land in Panchkula for the erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company.

"The probe was first started by the Vigilance department of Haryana and subsequently handed over to the CBI. The reasons cited for the state government for handing over the case to CBI will come as a nightmare for Sonia and Rahul. “The matter relating to Associated Journals Limited in Delhi and Mumbai is already being looked into at national level. Keeping in view that persons in high places are involved and in view of the complexities involved in the matter as well as the fact that the allottee Company and its office bearers have their offices/ residence across many States, which will be beyond the working of State Vigilance Bureau, it has been decided to get the matter investigated from the Central Bureau of Investigation for a free and fair investigation,” said the Haryana Government’s letter to Centre, attached with the CBI’s 13-page FIR. The FIR is published at the end of the article.

................................................................................................

"In the present case, Hooda and officials are charged for conspiracy and misuse of power along with AJL. The present Directors of the AJL are Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda[32]. All these persons are the accused along with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s main National Herald case before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate’s court.

"All the AJL Directors along with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are the Directors of the controversial company Young Indian, which acquired the Rs.5000 crores ($774 million) worth assets of public limited company AJL. Already Swamy had filed complaints with CBI and ED for registering case in National Herald under Prevention of Corruption Act, and misappropriation of land in Delhi and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Swamy’s allegations were prima facie ratified from the trial court to the Supreme Court. Now the CBI action for illegalities in allotment of Panchkula land makes the bigger crime in Delhi an open and shut case, where Sonia and Rahul are directly involved.

"The million-dollar question is when will the CBI, ED and Income Tax take their toughest call?"

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Apr 21 – Enforcement Directorate questions Vora and Hooda in NH case 

"The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned All India Congress Committee (AICC) Treasurer Motilal Vora and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with the money laundering in the National Herald case. ED sleuths questioned Vora at his residence on April 18 in Delhi. Hooda was questioned at ED’s Chandigarh office. Both were interrogated by ED sleuths, focusing on the dubious land allotment in Panchkula to the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

"The questioning of Vora has sent shock waves to the Congress top leadership. Vora is Sonia’s treasurer from 1998, after she ascended to the President-ship of the Party. According to ED officials, they went to his house for questioning due to his illness. ED’s action came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Hooda and AJL. Vora is the Chairman and Managing Director of AJL for the past two decades. State Vigilance found several violations in the allotment of Panchkula plot in 2005 when Hooda was the Chief Minister of Haryana.

"Apart from Hooda and AJL, the CBI FIR named the then Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) officials[33]. Three IAS officers namely S S Dhillon, Vineet Garg and the recently retired Shakuntala Jakhu were named in the FIR."

Author gives a tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy as a photograph. 

................................................................................................

"Meanwhile, the next hearing of Subramanian Swamy’s case in National Herald matter is scheduled for April 22 before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court. The case is pending before arguments on Swamy’s petition to summon witnesses such as some officials from Income Tax, Registrar of Companies and Urban Development Ministry. He also demanded summoning AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi in the case citing that the Congress leader was the first person who admitted from the party that they had paid Rs.90 crores ($13.9 million) to AJL, which is a clear violation of laws.

"Meanwhile, like the Haryana Government, Maharashtra Government too has ordered a probe on the violations and illegal sale of prime plot allotted in Bandra.

"It is expected that CBI and ED’s actions would create an interesting turn of events in Swamy’s case which mainly targets Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Other persons accused in the case are Sonia’s trusted men Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, and Sam Pitroda.

................................................................................................

"Swamy has already filed complaints to CBI, ED, and Urban Development Ministry for registering case for grabbing the plot and building in Delhi and money trail of Rs.90 crores ($13.9 million) from Congress party to AJL, which is acquired by Sonia and Rahul by floating a new private company called Young Indian. 

"Meanwhile, like the Haryana Government, Maharashtra Government too has ordered a probe on the violations and illegal sale of prime plot allotted in Bandra. Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis has appointed Additional Chief Secretary Gautam Chatterjee to probe into the land grabbing and illegal sale of Bandra property and the officer had submitted the report detailing the violations to the State Government in Feb 2016[34]. Till date the state government has not taken any action.  

"Similarly, Income Tax Department has also not finished its probe on money trail from Congress to the AJL."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Apr 22 – Swamy files application to summon Hooda. Congress-objects 

"Further tightening the screws in the National Herald case, Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy filed application on Saturday for summoning former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda citing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) First Information Report (FIR)s in the Panchkula land allotment scam. Swamy’s petition was vehemently objected to by the Congress leaders’s lawyers alleging that he was purposefully widening the case and creating mischief.

"The lawyers representing Congress leaders led by R S Cheema objected to Swamy’s application. They said every time Swamy is coming with new dimensions and that the Panchkula scam has nothing to do with the main National Herald case."

Who were they trying to fool?!!!

................................................................................................

"Arguing before the Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, Swamy said his case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also details the land scam in Panchkula and he is proved right that government agencies have now registered an FIR on the matter. He said Hooda and accused Motilal Vora were recently questioned by the CBI and the role of Hooda has to be ascertained in his case also. Apart from Hooda, Swamy also demanded bureaucrats S S Dhillon, Vineet Garg and Shakuntala Jakhu be summoned as witness. These IAS officers were named in the FIR of CBI for conniving with Hooda and Assoicated Journal in 2005 during their tenure in Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

"Swamy’s idea is to widen the case and try to create more problems to his political opponents, said Cheema.

"Countering the Congress lawyers, Swamy said that his petition is about the land grabbing of lands allotted to National Herald newspaper in Delhi, Panchkula, Mumbai, Indore, Lucknow and Bhopal by main accused Sonia and Rahul. “Now the state agencies also found the irregularities and these persons are also part of the land grabbing,” he said. The case was adjourned to May 15 for further arguments."

Author gives another tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy, and one really wishes that the text thereof had been given in a form that could be quoted! 

"This is a strategic move by Swamy and the CBI and ED cases would strengthen his case. The Government’s action and registering FIR has proved Swamy’s main allegation of land grabbing in the name of newspaper business by Congress leadership."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"May 12 – Delhi High Court rejects Sonia & Rahul petition to quash Income Tax action 

"The hubris filled Gandhi family’s smugness and disrespect for the laws of the country have been dealt a severe blow in the National Herald case. On Friday, the Congress leaders faced the wrath of Delhi High Court by directly approaching them, without going to Income Tax (IT), which had served them notice. 

"At one point, the Judges told the Congress leaders: “Don’t be arrogant. First go to tax officers,” when the lawyers again and again pressed them.

"The Delhi High Court declined to stay the income tax proceedings against Young Indian Pvt. Ltd. in the National Herald case, which involves, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and asked them to approach the tax authorities.

................................................................................................

"“We are not inclined to entertain your writ petition. It is better you withdraw it and approach the income tax assessing officer,” a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Chander Shekhar said. It also said that the company has not moved the assessing officer raising its grievances, so it should first approach the IT department and submit its documents.

"In case it is still not satisfied, the company can move the court thereafter, the bench added. At one point, the Judges told the Congress leaders: “Don’t be arrogant. First go to tax officers,” when the lawyers again and again pressed them.

"Income Tax action came after the trial court summoned Sonia, Rahul and other Congress leaders on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition.

"Sensing the mood of the bench, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Young Indian, withdrew the petition which was allowed by the court that termed it “dismissed as withdrawn.”

................................................................................................

"Young Indian (YI) had approached the high court seeking a direction to stay the IT proceedings and quashing of re- assessment notices issued against it with regard to the National Herald misappropriation of assets case. The company was issued notices regarding the assessment year 2011-12.

"The counsel for the Income Tax Department opposed the petition, saying the firm has not moved the assessing officer and hence its plea was not maintainable.

"Income Tax action came after the trial court summoned Sonia, Rahul and other Congress leaders on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition. The Income Tax Department sent notice to Congress party for illegally giving Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) to AJL. There is doubt if even Congress Party funded AJL as noted by Political Commentator, Accountant and Journalist S Gurumurthy shed light on the sources of funding[35].

"Swamy had accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs. 50 lakhs ($78,000), through which YI had obtained the right to recover Rs. 90.25 crores ($12.5 million) which the Associate Journals Limited (AJL) owed to the Congress party. Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are the co-accused in the case. Next hearing in the trial court is scheduled on May 15, where arguments for seeking further documents expected to continue."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"May 13 – In 2004, IT had found 5.3cr illegal payment by Congress 

"Arecently surfaced letter from the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (IT) dept. in Lucknow proves that the Department was well aware of illegal fund flow from Congress party to National Herald publishing company 13 years ago! The IT document published at the end of this articles exposes that on December 28, 2004, the Lucknow Unit had alerted the Delhi IT unit that AJL got Rs.5.3 crores ($826,000) from Congress party illegally.

"This illegal payment from Congress party happened during the period 2001 to 2002. “During the course of assessment proceedings for AY 02-03 in the case of M/s Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL), it is found that your assessee i.e. All India Congress Committee has given an interest free loan Rs.5,30,00,000 ($826,000) during the period 1.4.2001 to 31.3.2002. This information is being passed to you for necessary action at your end,” said the Income Tax’s Lucknow Unit’s letter to New Delhi Unit titled as “Passing of Information.”

"At that time, the treasurer of Congress was Motilal Vora, who was also the Chairman of AJL. Vora became the Treasurer of the party when Sonia Gandhi captured the President-ship of the party in 1998, by unceremoniously removing Sitaram Kesri[37]. The episode, described as Toilet Gate details how the then President of the party, Sitaram Kesri was locked up in a toilet to enable Sonia to become the President of the Congress Party[38].

................................................................................................

"As per rules, a political party cannot give funds to a business activity. The saga of National Herald should convince anyone that Congress party has no respect for the laws of the country. The ongoing National Herald case exposes that the public limited company AJL has received Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) from Congress party to settle his dues. Mysteriously the new private limited company Young Indian, with 76 percent of shares owned by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi decided to take over the Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) worth dues of AJL at a valued price of Rs.50 lakhs ($78,000). Till date none has explained how Rs.90 crores got valued at Rs.50 lakhs. By this curious deal, AJL decided to allot 99.9 percent of its shares to Young Indian. Many of the 1000 plus shareholders of AJL who were contacted said they did not know of the fact that AJL was being sold to Young Indian! By this fraud[39], Young Indian with just five lakh share capital floated in December 2010, became the owner of AJL’s Rs.5000 crores ($779 million) worth land assets and buildings across India.

................................................................................................

"As the original notice is not so legible, for the benefit of the readers, the contents of the notice are shown below:

"OFFICE OF THE DY. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX R-IV 

"LUCKNOW

"DCITR-IV 

"04-09 

"28.12.2004 

"The Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax

"Circle 31(3) 

"Ayakar Bhavan 

"New Delhi 

"Sir, Sub: Passing of information – reg.

"Kindly refer to the above subject.

"During the course of assessment proceedings for AY 02-03 in the case of M/s Associated Journals Ltd., it is found that your Assessee i.e. All India Congress Committee has given an interest free loan Rs.5,30,00,000 during the period 1.4.2001 to 31.3.2002. This information is being passed to you for necessary action at your end.

"Yours faithfully 

"S/d 

"Deputy Commissioner of IT 

"Encls: As above""

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"May 13 – Gandhi family’s Nemesis? 

"Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi are in a blue funk, unable to explain their illegal takeover of the assets of the National Herald Group in 2012, by transferring its shares to a company, Young India, in which they control 76 per cent stake.

"Briefly, the rigmarole involved the party loaning Rs 90-plus crores ($12.5 million) to Associated Journals Pvt. Ltd. (AJL), owner and publisher of National Herald (English daily), Navjivan (Hindi daily), Qaumi Awaz (Urdu daily), and National Herald International Weekly, to wipe out its debts and settle employee dues after publication formally ceased in 2008. Thereafter, on April 26, 2012, Young Indian ‘extinguished’ this Rs.90 crores debt for a paltry Rs.50 lakhs while transferring AJL shares to itself. The mathematics has never been explained to this day!"

Except what in plain sight - it's cheating, nothing more or less. 

AJIL was a public company with shareholders, donations and job, namely, publications. YI is purely private and controlled by a small, semi-Indian if that, family, and they have transferred the public company to ownership by private one they control, so thay the several thousand crores worth assets of the AJIL now are owned by YI, the private company, at a cost of 50 lakh, which is less than a .001% of value of the assets of the purchased company. 

................................................................................................

"The transactions were conducted in utmost secrecy, with Motilal Vora as party treasurer transferring the money to Motilal Vora as chairman cum managing director of AJL and select family loyalists in the know. Vora and party general secretary Oscar Fernandes are also shareholders in Young Indian, with 12 per cent stake each. Other Directors include family friends Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda."

Hence the stink. 

"Some persons who held shares from the time Jawaharlal Nehru launched National Herald in 1937, with funds from the public, were aghast at the development and blew the whistle, discreetly. That is how this writer came to be the first journalist to touch the story [Niticentral, 29 October 2012] at a time when it seemed that the Gandhi family could never be held accountable for any misdeed. Now, thanks to the doggedness of BJP leader, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, who took the case to court, struggled to get it admitted and followed it through, this is one act for which they will be held legally liable."

Nation must thank, too, that not everyone was gorgeous sale - nor the family smart enough to cover every possible eventuality, but, instead,  arrogant enough to think that nobody could successfully point a finger at any of them. 

Is that due to fascist DNA? Or is it worse? War criminal DNA of a nazi, as the possibility indicated by discoveries of Dr Subramanian Swamy regarding the history of the branch of the family in charge of family fortunes, after deaths of Indira Gandhi and her sons? 

................................................................................................

"It bears stating that Union Finance Finister Arun Jaitley’s assertion to a news channel (Aug 5, 2014) that the Congress could “simply return the loan and the matter could end,” is incorrect[40]. First, Congress did not take any loan. Rather, it was Congress that loaned a staggering Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) to AJL, which is a commercial enterprise (even if non-viable), and this is illegal for a political party. It is shameful that the Election Commission has failed to take cognisance of this breach."

That should be Minister, not "Finister". 

"Second, AJL was set up with around 5000 shareholders. By purchasing its debt of Rs.90 crores from the Congress party, for a paltry sum of Rs.50 lakhs ($78,000), without informing any of the original shareholders or their heirs, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi indulged in an illegal activity that gave them control of real estate worth around Rs 5000 crores ($779 million). Since the story broke, many questionable property deals in the name of National Herald have come to light."

Chutzpah of daylight robbery. 

................................................................................................

"On Friday, 12 May 2017, the Delhi High Court rejected Young Indian Private Ltd’s petition to quash Income Tax Department proceedings against it and directed the company to first approach the Income Tax assessing officer and submit all required documents[41].

"Young Indian (Registration no. 55-210686) is a private company registered under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. Its stated aim is to inculcate “in the mind of India’s youth, commitment to the ideal of a democratic and secular society for its entire populace without any distinction as to religion, caste or creed and to awaken India’s youth to participate in activities that promote the foregoing objective.” ... "

That's eyewash of the muzak variety, of the grade played in elevators dfor over a fortnight at the end of the year. 

"... As this has nothing to do with journalism, it is inexplicable as to why Young Indian acquired the assets of a media company for its activities. ... "

Of course, since acquisition of assets of AJIL was the real purpose, and all that verbose cover was just that. Cover. 

" ... Moreover, the National Herald building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg has been rented to the Ministry of External Affairs for its Passport Division at a reported sum of Rs.60 lakhs ($94,000) per month. Young Indian has never explained what it does with the money."

Other than being in family pockets? 

................................................................................................

"The takeover was executed systematically. AJL was formally closed and printing of all publications terminated in 2008, leaving an unpaid debt of Rs.90 crores approximately. On November 23, 2010, Young Indian Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated with a paid-up capital of just Rs 5 lakh u/s 25 of the Companies Act, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owned 38 per cent shares each (jointly 76 per cent)."

If the capital was only 5 lakh, how did YI raise 50 lakh, ten times the capital, to pay for AJIL, a company with assets worth over 5,000 crores, which is 100,000 times worth 5 lakh, the said capital of YI? 

"In December 2010, the Board of Directors of Young Indian passed a resolution to “own” the outstanding debt of the AJL and obtained an unsecured zero interest loan from the Congress for equivalent amount to liquidate the said debt. Sonia Gandhi was the then Congress president, Rahul Gandhi general secretary, and Motilal Vora party treasurer and CMD of AJL.

"The AJL held a Board meeting and declared that it could not discharge the debt to Congress. It resolved without reference to and approval of the shareholders that Young Indian would own its debt, and for Rs. 50 lakhs its entire share equity would be transferred to Young Indian. Thus, AJL became a wholly owned company of Young Indian. The loan obtained from the party was written off as irrecoverable."

Sleight of hand, no matter which way one sees, and in clear sight, performed in slow motion, with no real attempt at hiding, except the family prestige, used as a fig leaf. 

................................................................................................

"The AJL Balance Sheet shows that it had real estate assets possibly worth Rs.5000 crores, in Delhi, Lucknow, Bhopal, Indore, Mumbai, Panchkula, Patna and other yet identified places. These were provided by various Central and State Governments after 1947 for facilitating newspaper printing, and publishing.

"After taken possession of this vast real estate, Young Indian declared that according to its objectives submitted for obtaining registration under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 it will not engage in publishing a newspaper including the National Herald. The Herald House in New Delhi has been rented and Young Indian receives the remuneration.

"That there was deep planning behind these moves can be seen from the fact that in AJL’s List of Shareholders and Debenture Holders 2008, the name of Rahul Gandhi has been inserted by hand at Page 49, with no shares or debentures allotted, and no other particulars given. In the List for 2011, Young Indian figures as the last entry, with the address N-125 Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110017, and the shares allotted are 9,02,16,898. Moti Lal Vora signed this document in his capacity as Managing Director.

................................................................................................

"The 2011 list of shareholders submitted to the Registrar of Companies included names of mostly deceased persons (about 80 per cent) and firms long defunct. Names that stand out include Jawaharlal Nehru of Anand Bhawan, Allahabad (died 1964); Rafi Ahmad Kidwai (d 1954); Feroze Gandhi (d 1960); Indira Nehru Gandhi (d 1984); Ghanshyam Das Birla (d 1983); NS Pandit and Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (she died 1990); Kailash Nath Katju (d 1968); Dr. Radha Kumud Mukherji; former Chief Justice of India; Mirza Hameedullah Beg (d 1985); Yagya Dutt Sharma (d 1996); Sucheta Kripalani (d 1974); Yashpal Kapoor; Mohammed Yunus (d 2001); BRCC president Rajni Patel; Jitendra Prasad (d 2001); H.Y. Sharda Prasad (d 2008); Lalit Suri (d 2006).

"When any shareholder died, AJL did not pass on the shares to their legal heirs. However, members of the Nehru-Gandhi family and their close associates entered the shareholder list: hence Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi and later their grandchildren. Some trusts like Rattan Deep Trust controlled by RD Pradhan and Rahul Gandhi, and Janhit Nidhi controlled by Rahul Gandhi, Rameshwar Thakur and Priyanka Gandhi Vadera (spelling as per list), were involved in this business.

................................................................................................

"In February 2013, Subramanian Swamy succeeded in having a criminal complaint for misappropriation of the Herald Group registered against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and the private firm Young Indian, at Patiala House Courts, New Delhi. Swamy pointed out that National Herald Group was not owned by the Nehru family, but by persons who joined the freedom movement and contributed most of the share capital. Hence, Young Indian had no right to appropriate 99 per cent of AJL shares with funds from the Congress party.

"In fact, as AJL held valuable properties and owed only Rs.90 crores to the Congress party and had little other liability, it could have used this real estate to return the loan and give huge benefits to its surviving 1000-plus shareholders who had contributed roughly Rs.89 lakhs ($89,000) to AJL’s capital at various times.

"Since the filing of the case, it has emerged that a commercial building on prime land (3,478 sq m) in Bandra[42], Mumbai, worth around Rs.200 crores ($31 million), was allotted for a Nehru memorial library and research centre nearly three decades ago. Another commercial building has come up on a plot of land taken at Panchkula (Chandigarh) in 2005, for newspapers that were already defunct.

"Under pressure, in January 2016, an extraordinary general body meeting (EGM) of AJL was held at Lucknow to help the Gandhis counter the accusation that they had usurped AJL’s real estate worth thousands of crores by seizing its equity via Young Indian.

................................................................................................

"But there are many problems. The first relates to preferential shareholders. Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan claims that his late father, Vishwamitra, held preferential shares, which do not carry voting rights. But if dividend is not paid for three years, the shareholders become voting members. As AJL never paid dividend since 1937, all preferential shareholders (or heirs) may be deemed as shareholders.

"The EGM invitees included Motilal Vora, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Syed Sibtey Razi, Sam Pitroda, Oscar Fernandes, Sheila Dikshit, Sandeep Dikshit, Salim Sherwani, Ratna Singh, and Jitin Prasada. While the first three figured as shareholders in 2008, it is unclear when the others became shareholders.

"Some shareholders who turned up at the venue were denied entry and told that they would be informed about the decisions. Though more than a year has passed, they have not been recognised and listed.

"Now Nemesis is knocking at the door. With real estate deals of daughter Priyanka Vadra and her husband, Robert Vadra, also coming under scrutiny, the Gandhi Parivar suddenly finds itself between a rock and hard place."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"May 14 – Swamy writes to CBI, ED Directors to book Sonia and Rahul in NH case 

"Stepping up his attacks in the National Herald case, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy petitioned to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) Directors to register cases against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders under Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In his detailed letter, Swamy said that by illegally floating the private company Young Indian, Sonia and Rahul grabbed the land allotted to National Herald newspaper by the Urban Development Ministry (UDM) on lease.

"Urging the two Directors to act against Sonia Gandhi in Prevention of Corruption Act, Swamy pointed out that during the scam period in December 2010, she was a public servant as she was holding the Cabinet Rank as the Chairperson of National Advisory Committee (NAC). The other accused, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez were ruling party Members of Parliament (MP)s and abused power by grabbing the prime land allotted by the UDM for publication of National Herald newspaper.

................................................................................................

"“The land allotted in Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, where the Herald House stands allotted at concessional rates in this prime area by the Central Government, was exclusively for publication of newspaper and thus the act of the accused persons grabbing semi-public property, cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery etc, not only are Indian Penal Code (IPC) offences the of which I am independently pursuing in the Magistrate Court in Patiala House in New Delhi, but it is clearly also offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and PMLA,” said Swamy in his three page letter to the CBI and ED Directors.

"Swamy accused the previous Directors of CBI and ED of hushing up his petition, even after trial court had found prima facie fraud and land grabbing and money laundering of Rs.90 crores involving the Congress party.

"“Moreover, the first accused and prime conspirator Smt. Sonia Gandhi was holding Cabinet Rank as NAC Chairperson when the crime was allegedly committed in 2010-11,” said Swamy urging to book Sonia Gandhi under Prevention of Corruption Act in National Herald case.

"Subramanian Swamy’s detailed three-page petition to CBI and ED Directors is published below ... "

Author gives it in photograph format. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"May 14 – The Doctrine Cy-pres & NH Doctrine of Cy-pres and its scope and application in National Herald case 

"As Original petitioner Dr. Subramanian Swamy puts it, National Herald is a multi-dimensional case.

"In the history of Independent India, this case will be a landmark for the finer points of law in which it touches and sails through. It’s a law practitioner’s delight due to various interfaces of law being involved - Company Law, Income Tax, applying real estate, donation of funds in good olden days and now with donors vanishing into thin air due to passage of time - left over people absorbing intent of donors to their own intent and arrangement and legal implications for those transactions extending across India, allocation of government lands, Transfer of property act, etc.,"

That should be 'etc..', not "etc.,". 

................................................................................................

"Let us examine, one such facet of law namely “Doctrine of Cy-pres” and its scope and application in National Herald case. 

"To simply put “Cy Pres” doctrine allows to apply the gift to some other charitable purpose “as nearly as possible” to resemble the original trusts of the gift.

"Halsbury’s Laws of England, 3rd ed., Vol. 4, page 317, para. 645, expresses the doctrine as follows. “Where a clear charitable intention is expressed, it will not be permitted to fail because the mode, if specified, cannot be executed, but the law will substitute another mode cy-pres, that is, as near as possible to the mode specified by the donor.”

................................................................................................

"Facts of National Herald: 

"1. The Associated Journals Limited (The AJL) was the publisher of National Herald Newspaper, which was founded under the chairmanship of Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru

"2. The AJL was formally closed and printing of National Herald, Navjivan and Qaumi Awaz was terminated and thus ceased in 2008. The AJL was at that time under a huge unpaid debt of Rs.90 crores

"3. The AJL borrowed from congress party 90 crores and settled this debt to others and the revised position as it stands: AJL owing 90 crores to Congress

"4. On 23 November 2010, Young Indian was incorporated as Section 25 company and its board of directors passed a resolution to own the outstanding debt of the AJL to Congress party

"5. The AJL board meeting also came to conclusion that it couldn't discharge the debt it owed to congress party and accordingly shareholding of the AJL got transferred to Young Indian

"6. Young Indian decided that they will take over AJL due of Rs 90 cr loan to congress at a value of Rs.50 lakhs 

"7. AJL thanked Young Indian for such a gesture and gave them their 99.99% shares to Young Indian as “consideration.”"

................................................................................................

"To sum up, Congress party paid the outstanding loan of AJL and became its revised creditor and to discharge this “Congress“ creditor; AJL transferred its shares to Young Indian for the amount it owed Congress. This transaction arrangement by itself is a quagmire of corporate structures being put to use leading to effect that AJL is being bought under the ultimate control of Young Indian. Congress party discharging the debt was used landmine to toss up AJL, its assets and shareholders."

The beginning should read 

" ... Congress party paid the outstanding loan of AJL and became its revised creditor; and to discharge this “Congress“ creditor, AJL transferred its shares ... "

And the latter part is quite uncertain, as in "Congress party discharging the debt" makes no sense - after all,  the claim made and later withdrawn was that congress loaned 90 crores to AJIL, not that congress discharged any debt owed by AJIL to anyone. 

................................................................................................

"The interplay of Doctrine of Cy-pres in National Herald case: 

"In the event of a Charitable trust being unable to discharge the trust mandate, it can consider transferring the gifts it received to another trust which comes near to its objective. The legal character of entities should closely resemble the objective. In the case of National Herald, objectives of Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited are not the same. They are different. Also, Young Indian admitting that it will not engage in publishing any newspaper including the National Herald makes the case clear that doctrine of cy-pres is violated.

"The application of the doctrine to public charities is explained in Halsbury at page 317, as follows: “WHERE a clear charitable intention is expressed, it will not be permitted to fail because the mode, if specified, cannot be executed, but the law will substitute another mode cy-pres, that is, as near as possible to the mode specified by the donor” [43]. Not only is the doctrine resorted to for the initial application of the fund given to charity, but also for applying any surplus of capital or income or subsequent increases thereof: see Halsbury pages 318 and 323. The rule of cy-pres is in harmony with the teachings of the Hindu Shastras and has been applied to charitable gifts by Hindus - Muthukrishna Naicken v. Ram chandra Naicken and others, A.I.R. 1919 Madras 659 (8) [44].

................................................................................................

"Referencing the above application of the doctrine of Cy-pres to National Herald only lead to the further conclusion - This complete transaction is a sham - Neither the objective was closely linked, nor its funds were applied. Letting out National Herald properties for rent also denotes borderline commercial activity. It gives us a hint about thought process which may have gone through in this transaction evidencing and establishing “mens rea.”"

Author is unduly charitable to the point of a lie in description of the Act as "borderline commercial activity", since renting out the premises for 60 lakhs a month has no other interpretation.  

"The doctrine of Cy-Pres is the only mode available under law to transfer gifts of trust to any other. In the case of National Herald, not only this doctrine is flouted but also it’s being done by the persons by interplaying themselves as giver and taker using corporate structures.  India is land of business and trade but trade and business cant' happen within oneself/masking oneself as other.  Where a Company does an act which is ultra vires, no legal relationship or effect ensues there from. Such an act is absolutely void and cannot be ratified even if all the shareholders agree. Ref: Dr. A. Lakshmanaswami ... vs Life Insurance Corporation on 11 December, 1962."

Next paragraph is unclear. 

"Charitable trusts across worldwide offer enough width and breath for real estate planning. This case of the National herald is one of the India’s contribution to global real estate planning in a novel way."

That should be National Herald. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"May 24 – HC rejects Motilal Vora’s petition against ED in Money Laundering probe in NH case 

"The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected the petition filed by Motilal Vora against ED’s probe in National Herald. The HC has told the Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora that he can approach it for relief if the Enforcement Directorate tries to arrest him in connection with alleged money laundering in land allotment to Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

"The court refused to entertain for now a plea by the 86-year-old national treasurer of the Congress to restrain the agency from arresting him. “It appears that there is no intention of ED to arrest him,” said the division bench comprising Chief Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar and Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal said on Tuesday, adding that his prayer for interim relief will not been taken up at this stage. “In case any attempt is made to arrest him by ED, he can file an application before the court,” the bench observed.

................................................................................................

"The case would now come up for hearing on July 19. Vora had been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate after he was summoned in his capacity as the Chairman and Managing Director of the AJL in connection with alleged irregularities in allotment of the plot to the company, which is the publisher of the National Herald newspaper, in Panchkula, Haryana, in 2005. 

"The agency had, last year, filed a criminal complaint and booked former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AJL officials and others on charges of alleged money laundering, taking cognisance of a Haryana State Vigilance Bureau FIR. Vora and AJL had moved the HC seeking quashing of the enforcement case investigation report registered by the ED.

"The CBI in April this year registered a case of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating and criminal conspiracy against Hooda, the then Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) chairman, an ex-officio post held by him as the CM, and four other top officials of HUDA[45]. Hooda had termed the action as “political vendetta” and said there was no wrongdoing. The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982.

................................................................................................

"After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, the then Haryana Vikas Party government led by Bansi Lal took back its possession. It was re-allotted to AJL under the regime of Congress-led by Hooda after the party came to power in 2005.

"It was alleged that the act by the then HUDA chairman and the officials had caused a huge financial loss to HUDA as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of being alloted again to AJL.

"Recently, Delhi High Court had rejected Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s petition to stop the Income Tax probe on the funding from Congress party to Young Indian and AJL[46]. The HC had even asked the Congress leaders to cooperate with the Income Tax. At one point, the Court said “don’t be so arrogant” when the Congress lawyer Abhishek Singhvi pressed for sending notice to Income Tax."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Jul 01 – Swamy applies for documents for Congress-AJL money trail Seeks documents of AJL funding 

"On Jul 1, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy applied for documents from Congress party and erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) regarding the illegal Rs.90 crores money trail. Swamy also filed the application under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) 294 to produce some crucial documents to cross verify with the accused persons. Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen issued a notice to Congress leaders in this regard and the next hearing is posted on July 22. Congress leaders are expected to object to Swamy’s demands for documents and production and verification of such documents."

Next paragraph is flanked with two wonderful cartoons. 

"The majority of the documents Swamy demanded were from AJL and Congress party regarding the illegal transaction of Rs.90 crores. For the past one year, Congress leaders have been vehemently objecting to this demand as it is a known secret that there are no such documents for this illegal or under-the-table deal of Rs.90 crores1. Even though Congress leaders claim that they have financed the AJL in the interest of protecting “Secularism and Nehruvian thoughts”, the law bans a political party to give loans for commercial operations to a company like AJL.

................................................................................................

"When the case started in the afternoon, Congress lawyers tried to put Swamy on the dock by pointing out that the BJP leader was not serving notices properly. They pointed out that in the previous hearing on May 15, the Court had directed Swamy to provide applications in 15 days and Swamy had served notices only today. In his usual style, Swamy shot back that he was trying to serve the applications to Congress side for many days and not found any of them as most of them were abroad. Sensing that Swamy was trying to poke the main accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders did not go further.

"The application under CrPC 294 is a headache for Congress leaders. This application allows Swamy to produce documents and cross verify with the accused. This is expected to be Swamy’s move to cut down the time consumption during the trial and agreeing for the cross verification of documents by Swamy would lead to the early admission of guilt in the case. So, it is expected that in the next hearing on July 22, Congress lawyers will oppose this applications tooth and nail.

"Legal experts point out that Congress wanted to start the trial by cross-examining Swamy and delaying for a long time and Swamy’s idea is to bring documents on record first and cut short the crossing by the accused. As documents are verified first, much of the evidence is placed on record, leading to reduced trial time. They point out that when the documents are placed, half of the case is over, and Swamy’s intention is to bring documents on records first to prove the major crux of the politically sensitive case.

"Congress is now in a “damned if they do and damned if they don’t” situation."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Aug 05 – Congress objects to supply of documents Swamy produces documents to verify with them 

"National Herald case reaches a turning point on August 5, after Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy produced 24 documents for the verification of the accused under Section 294 of CrPC. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others that are accused, objected to Swamy’s earlier petition to produce pertinent documents on the money trail from Congress and newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL). Swamy’s move to produce documents by him and verify with the accused is a nightmare for the Congress leaders.

"The next hearing in the case is scheduled for September 23. Congress leaders, as usual, are expected to object to Swamy’s new strategy of verification of the documents produced by him. Swamy produced 24 crucial documents of Congress, AJL and Sonia Rahul controlled Young Indian linking the illegal Rs.90 crore routing from the party to capture the assets of AJL. He also produced the decades' long agreements of land allotments to AJL in Bihar, Delhi, and Haryana.

"Responding to Swamy’s earlier petition for production Congress repeated that Swamy is trying to delay the legal process and with the hidden agenda to hoist more cases. The 12-page reply by the Congress leaders said Swamy’s demands are “yet another ploy to delay the proceedings in the case and not move forward according to the procedure laid by the law.”

................................................................................................

"Congress leaders said Swamy has “ulterior motives behind to move multiple applications seeking documents.” Citing out Swamy’s styles in the conducting the Congress leaders said that he is trying to create more cases and petitions and trying to delay and link with other cases like CBI FIR against former Haryana Chief Minister BS Hooda and later withdrawing the petition.

"Congress party even objected to Swamy’s demand of producing their Balance Sheets and accounts during 2010-2012, the scam period. Many party insiders say the party did not reflect the Rs.90 crores transfer to AJL and producing these accounts would be a real boomerang for the Congress leadership, as Swamy would next prefer case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

"The latest strategic step of Swamy by producing the Photostat copies of Congress and AJL documents and get it verified from the accused side under CrPC 294 is a real tension for Congress leaders, as it would directly lead to the admission of the guilt."

Author gives another delightful tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy, in a photographic reproduction format. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Aug 21 – Magistrate son terminated. Is the father, Justice V P Vaish in trouble too? Son's dismissal could mean trouble for the Meghalaya High Court Judge V P Vaish 

"With the Delhi High Court terminating the services of Metropolitan Magistrate Nitesh Gupta, his father Justice Ved Prakash Vaish, now in Meghalaya High Court may be in trouble too. As per the reports, a few days ago, the Delhi High Court terminated the services of the newly recruited Magistrate Nitesh Gupta for finding Rs.5.73 crores in his accounts[47]. His claim that this amount was an “interest-free loan” from somebody was found to be unsatisfactory. It is a genuine question as to how Rs.5.73 crores came into the account of a young Magistrate, who recently joined the service. Nitesh Gupta’s selection as a Magistrate was also controversial when his father Justice V P Vaish was a Judge in the Delhi High Court. There were allegations of nepotism in the selection process.

"Father V P Vaish, who started his career in the Delhi District Courts, was the Registrar General of Delhi High Court, before being selected as a High Court Judge in Delhi High Court in April 2013, during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) tenure. Justice V P Vaish’s actions in the politically sensitive National Herald case was controversial. In August 2014, he stayed the trial court order of summoning Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders. After sitting on the case for about six months, all of a sudden Justice Vaish recused himself from the case without giving any reason in January 2015[48].

................................................................................................

"During this period in December 2014, Justice Vaish took a controversial decision by quashing the CBI trial of Sonia Gandhi’s Private Secretary Vincent George[49]. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to direct the CBI to appeal against this controversial decision, which has not yet been acted upon.

"Anyway, Justice Vaish was soon transferred to Meghalaya High Court in May 2016. Now his son, a Magistrate in Delhi Courts is terminated for finding unexplainable money. Father Justice V P Vaish can’t evade from this shameful incident in Judiciary. There were talks in legal circles that the father may resign as an escape route. Being a High Court Judge, the only punishment as per the Constitution is Impeachment by Parliament. That has to be moved forward by political parties. Will they move Impeachment Motion against Justice V P Vaish? Or like in the case of errant Judge Justice Karnan, will Supreme Court remove him from judicial duties? The Supreme Court can only remove him from Judicial duties and post him in some administrative duties. Only Parliament can act through an impeachment motion by terminating his services. Will political parties act? Or will they make noise and delay the actual impeachment proceedings, giving enough time for V P Vaish to exit by resigning? 

"The Modi government, by firing a Magistrate has given a strong message to the judiciary. Those who are caught red handed with unexplained income will be named, shamed, and thrown out. This will instil fear in the hearts of the corrupt judges who permeate the system at every level in India."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Oct 22 – Swamy praises PM Modi on fight against Corruption, lists out 7 crucial cases on which CBI is not acting 

"Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy blamed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India, for the delay in action in major seven cases of corruption by the agency probes including the Aircel-Maxis, National Herald, and Robert Vadra cases. In a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Swamy listed the seven cases and inaction by the CBI for the past several months.

"Swamy pointed out that CBI has not yet moved an inch in the National Herald case land grabbing by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi under Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), even after many courts up to Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the ongoing case filed by him. He said that apart from Sonia and Rahul, other Directors of Young Indian such as Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes were Members of the Parliament (MPs) when grabbing the Herald House property leased by the Ministry of Urban Development.

................................................................................................

"“In the National Herald case, in which prosecution in my Private Complaint case, the CBI has to register a case under Prevention of Corruption Act against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez who all are MPs. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) thereafter can attach all the illegally acquired properties of the Associated Journals Private Limited,” he said.

"He blamed the CBI for not acting fast against former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s family. Swamy said that CBI delayed the probe in Aircel Maxis case involving Chidambaram and son Karti and urged immediate custodial interrogation. He also said that CBI has not yet acted against Chidambaram’s wife Nalini in Sarada Chit Fund Scam.

"“In the Sarada Chit Fund case, the main accused have mentioned Nalini Chidambaram as having received illegal pecuniary benefits and gratification. Yet she has yet to be summoned and questioned,” said Swamy in a two-page letter. The letter of Swamy is published at the end of this report.

................................................................................................

"The Senior BJP leader also pointed out that CBI is going very slow in the land grabbing cases against Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. Another case he said was the CBI delay in the probe against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda in the illegal land allotment to National Herald in Panchkula.

"“The cases of Moin Qureshi and the Agusta Westland corruption have not proceeded at all, besides sensational media publicity,” said Swamy urging Prime Minister to direct CBI for speedy and fast action in these seven corruption cases."

That explains a great deal regarding the mysterious delay in CBI investigation of comparatively recent - 2020 June - murders in Mumbai, subsequently. 

"Subramanian Swamy’s letter to Prime Minister on CBI delays in seven crucial corruption cases is published below:"

Author gives the letter in photographic reproduction format. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Nov 18 – Sonia & Rahul reject cross verification of documents, allege Swamy is delaying National Herald case on Saturday in the Patiala Court 

"Without providing their own documents or getting ready to testify, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi accused senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy of trying to delay the case by asking for a series of documents.

"For the past two years, Congress leaders are not providing any documents of their party’s funding to Associated Journal Limited (AJL) or the accounts of AJL or Young Indian or the Congress party which itself exposes the scam[50]. After hearing the objection of the leaders Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh posted the case on January 20 for further arguments.

................................................................................................

"Puncturing Congress leaders repeated objections in producing their own documents, Subramanian Swamy, in the previous hearing made an application under Section 294 of CrPC. As per this Swamy can produce those documents and Congress leaders can be asked to cross verify these documents. This was a nightmare to the Congress leadership as these documents will boomerang on them and can cut short many procedures in the trial. On November 18, sensing this lethal way, Congress leaders argued that Swamy is trying to delay the process by moving many petitions while withdrawing many of his earlier petitions.

"“This exercise undertaken by the complainant to file multiple applications, choosing to withdraw some and further choosing to change the relief sought in one by replacing it with another is nothing but an absolute disregard for the precious time of this court and of the larger judicial process,” said Sonia and Rahul in their counter arguments on Swamy’s petition under Section 294 of CrPC for cross verification of National Herald case documents. The leaders sought dismissal of Swamy’s application while keeping silence on the production of their own documents or cross verification of their own documents produced by Swamy.

"The BJP leader had filed a set of documents of around 450 pages relating to the Congress party, National Herald and others before the court, seeking a response from the accused as to whether these were correct."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Jan 01 – Fight against corruption must be one of the main New Year Resolutions of PM Modi Sonia family: Vadra land grabbing: Chidambaram family cases: Ahmed Patel family cases: NDTV cases: Controversial 2G trial court judgment: 

"Dear Prime Minister, 

"We are now entering 2018. Looking back, the year 2017 had a dismal track record on Government’s promised fight against corruption, basically due to lethargy and internal sabotages to save the corrupt in the really big cases. The shocking judgment in the 2G Scam case has created doubts in the minds of common man that anything is possible[51] and the venal are beginning to think that they can get away with anything (in one case even murder)! Nothing can explain the inordinate delays in the corruption cases involving the Sonia family in the National Herald case, and Robert Vadra in the land grabbing case.

"The probes into Chidambaram family’s corruption cases[52] like the Aircel-Maxis scam, INX-media bribery case and illegal assets amassed in 14 countries and Ahmed Patel family’s case involving the Sterling Biotech and Sandesara Group companies are moving at a glacial pace[53]. A similar lethargic attitude by the probe agencies is also seen in the various cases against NDTV.

"Dear Prime Minister, given below is the status of the probe in each of the high-flying cases mentioned above.

................................................................................................

"Sonia family: 

"National Herald case: 

"Still the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax and the Urban Development Ministry have not yet moved an inch in this case involving land grabbing in major cities worth more than Rs.5000 crores by Sonia and Rahul. From trial court to Delhi High Court to Supreme Court, all have ratified the illegalities prima facie and the accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders are now out on bail and facing trial in the private case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. What prevents the CBI, ED, Income Tax and Union Urban Development Ministry, State Governments of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh to act on the massive land grab and bank loan jugglery in the name of media operations by these top Congress leaders? Only Haryana Government initiated action[54] and handed over the case to CBI, which is still sitting on the case. As a private complainant Subramanian Swamy has many limitations in providing all the proof and undertaking all the legal proceedings. It is time for Government agencies to do their duty in National Herald scam, which is ratified in all legal forums and the trial is going on.

................................................................................................

"Vadra land grabbing: 

"For the past three years CBI, ED and Income Tax are beating around the bush in the massive land grabbing and money laundering cases related to Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra[55]. People have started losing faith in the Government’s attitude on the fight regarding high profile corruption cases. There is a general perception among the people that politicians at the top in all parties do under-the-table dealings due to the delay in Vadra probe and other cases.

................................................................................................

"Chidambaram family cases: 

"The obscene delays in the Aircel Maxis and INX Media bribe cases probe are really testing the patience of the common man. Chidambaram’s son Karti is now openly defying summons of CBI and ED and the delay by the agencies have provided ample room for him to drag it to the courts. There is no excuse for the inaction, including the arrest of Karti for not appearing before agencies. Further, Government agencies have still not started to register cases under the Black Money Act and Benami Act for illegally amassing properties in 14 countries and 21 undeclared foreign bank accounts by the members of Chidambaram family[56]. It is an open secret that many top people in the Finance Ministry are trying to hush up the cases against former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s family[57].

................................................................................................

"Ahmed Patel family cases: 

"Ahmed Patel’s family is now caught in the Rs.5000 crores bank loan fraud involving Sterling Biotech and Sandesara Group of companies. The ED officers such as Rajeshwar Singh are facing all kinds of hardships from the corrupt lobby and friends of Chidambaram and Ahmed Patel after the registration of these high-profile cases. It is time you read out the riot act to the babus that their loyalties are first and foremost, to the country and anyone indulging in acts of sabotage should be dealt with severely.

................................................................................................

"NDTV cases: 

"India’s premier peddler of fake news, NDTV, is caught by CBI, ED and Income Tax and still the cases move at a pace that can only be described as turtle-like[58]. Even after having been provided proof of the massive rigging by the NDTV promoters in Stock Exchanges, the Regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has not yet acted due to the interference of NDTV-friendly people in the Finance Ministry[59].

................................................................................................

"Controversial 2G trial court judgment: 

"The government must ensure the immediate appeal and day-to-day basis arguments in the Delhi High Court to bring justice in the 2G Scam trial court judgment, which acquitted all the corrupt persons. This trial court judgment, ignoring all the concrete evidence of money trail and findings of the Supreme Court shows the handiwork of corrupt elements who manage to ensure outcomes to their liking[60].

................................................................................................

"Dear Prime Minister, in the light of above-stated facts, I and everyone at Team PGurus urge you to evolve a clear strategy on a war footing to fight corruption, as promised by you to the electorate. 

"Wishing you a nice 2018 ahead."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Jan 20 – Income Tax fixes Sonia-Rahul firm Young Indian for Rs.414 crores gains from NH frauds. Calls Congress Rs.90 crores loan claim “bogus” 

Amusing mistake in the pic at the top of the chapter, in saying '60 crores' instead of '90 crores'. 

................................................................................................

"The Income Tax Department (ITD) exposes the blatant lies, frauds including hawala operations and land grabbing committed by Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled firm Young Indian in the National Herald case.

"The ITD declared that the Congress’ claim of giving Rs.90-crores ($14 million) loan to the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL) was a “totally bogus” claim to facilitate Gandhi family-controlled company Young Indian to dubiously take over the ownership of the lands and buildings across India. The 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order has declared that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled Young Indian’s actual taxable income is more than Rs.414 crores ($65 million) and cancelled the firm’s tax exemption certificate. As per this Assessment Order dated December 27, 2017, served to Young Indian the previous week, the company is liable for tax evasion for the concealment of income of more than Rs.414 crores. According to tax experts, the concealment of income attracts fine in the range of 100% to 300% and prosecution for concealing the income.

................................................................................................

"The Assessment Order dated December 27 served to the Young Indian was produced by main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh on Saturday afternoon to prove that his complaints and findings against all the accused are totally ratified by the Income Tax department. After assessing the Fair Market Values of the properties of AJL in New Delhi, Mumbai’s Bandra region, Lucknow, Panchkula in Haryana and Patna, the Assessment Order says the Young Indian literally owns the land and building assets of more than Rs.2000 crores.

"Income Tax in its detailed Assessment Order described the takeover of erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company AJL by Young Indian as a premeditated scheme of tax evasion, adventure, fraudulent, involved in hawala nature activities etc.

"“However, during the course of assessment proceedings, many opportunities were allowed to the assessee (Young Indian) as well as the representatives of the AICC to prove the date and mode of transfer of loan amounting to Rs.90.21 crores to the AJL,” said Income Tax department, adding that Congress leaders including its Treasurer Motilal Vora did not cooperate and raised objections several times[61]. The IT Department also produced Vora’s letters accusing the Assessing Officer for political bias for seeking the details of the Rs.90 crore loan claim to National Herald. In some letters, Vora warns the Assessing Officer that he would face prosecution and has no power to investigate these matters.

................................................................................................

"“In order to fulfil the objective of acquiring 100 percent shares of the AJL, one of the majority shareholder of the assessee (Young Indian), Rahul Gandhi along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had purchased an additional 47,513 and 2,62,411 shares through Rattan Deep Trust and Janhit Nidhi Trust respectively[62] without complying with the provisions of the Companies Act,” said Income Tax in detail saying that Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crore loan to AJL was wrong and this wrong claim was mooted to take over the land assets of AJL by floating a new company called Young Indian.

"“As early as in the beginning of the year 2008 it was decided to close down the business of printing and publishing the newspaper by the AJL with the oblique purpose to make commercial use of the business assets of the AJL (commercial property located in posh areas of Delhi, Patna, Panchkula, Mumbai, Lucknow) acquired by it from the Central/ State Governments for publishing newspaper at ridiculously low prices...

"“Important office bearers of the AICC namely Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes and AJL controlled by Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes have devised the scheme involving pre-ordinate artificial and fraudulent steps to take over AJL. The objective of the scheme was two-fold, one to obtain valuable benefits embodied in business assets of the AJL and two, to not pay any tax on business income of earning such benefit.

"“The scheme has included a fraudulent transaction involving purchases of a non-existent loan of Rs.90.21 crores by AICC to AJL for a paltry sum of Rs. 50 lakhs ($78,000) by the assessee (Young Indian) company.”"

................................................................................................

"The Income Tax Order also said that Young Indian receiving Rs. One crore ($156,000) from a Kolkata based company Doltex is nothing but a hawala transaction[63].

"“The competent authority after making enquiry has held that the assessee company (Young Indian) had not carried out any activity in accordance with its charitable object and has cancelled the tax exemption enjoyed by the assessee company by passing an order under section 12AA(3) of the Act on December 26, 2017. In view of the above, the business income of the Rs.413,40,55,980 earned by the assessee (Young Indian) during year under consideration was not subject to tax exemption.”

"The Assessment Order said that 44 opportunities spanning 890 days were given to Congress leaders and Young Indian company to prove their claims. The Income Tax also re-produced Motilal Vora’s letter to the Assessing Officer, accusing him of political bias and wide range of allegations when documents were sought for the party’s claim of giving a Rs.90 crores loan.

................................................................................................

"National Herald publication was stopped in 2008 and the publishing company AJL was taken over by Young Indian in December 2010. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul have 38 percent shares each in the newly floated Young Indian. Gandhi family’s trusted Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes have 12 percent shares each. The family’s close aides Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey are also the Directors and first promoters of the Young Indian. In the case filed by Subramanian Swamy, all these six persons and Young Indian are accused and currently out on bail from December 2015[64]. Swamy approached the Metropolitan Magistrate’s court in February 2013 and taking cognizance of the office, the Court had summoned the Congress leaders. Though the Congress leadership went to Delhi High Court and Supreme Court against the trial court’s summons, however, it did not get relief. The Courts pronounced that they must face trial. After the trial court’s summons in July 2014, the Income Tax had issued notice to Young Indian and Congress and AJL for the controversial Rs.90-crore loan.

"The Magistrate directed to put the documents in a sealed cover. Swamy also produced the documents produced by Sonia Gandhi in the Supreme Court (SC) in a Special Leave Petition for National Herald. Swamy said these were the documents he wanted and said he wanted Sonia to testify these documents or face perjury if documents placed in the SC were wrong. Next hearing in this case is adjourned for March 17."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Jan 22 – Read 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order against Young Indian exposing Rs.414 crores gain 

"In public interest, we have decided to publish the entire 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi controlled company Young Indian. This Assessment Order proves that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s National Herald case against the Congress leadership is totally factual.

................................................................................................

Author gives paragraphs interspersed with cartoons, next. 

"This Assessment Order published below this article establishes the following:

"1. As per the Assessment Order dated December 27, 2017, Income Tax Department (ITD) found that Congress party’s claim of giving Rs.90 crores loan to National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL) was totally bogus and a fraud engineered by the Gandhi family.

"2. The ITD charges that Young Indian concealed taxable income of more than Rs.414 crores. So as per Income Tax Act, the fine for the concealed taxable income ranges between 100 to 300% and criminal prosecution for such concealment.

"3. The fake loan theory of Rs.90 crores was engineered to grab the properties of National Herald newspaper in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow, Panchkula in Haryana and Bhopal, worth more than Rs.2000 crores by the Gandhi family-controlled company. All these properties in plush localities of these cities were allotted on lease for publishing newspapers by Central and State Governments at a paltry sum. Floating a new company called Young Indian was to grab these assets.

"4. The Assessment Order shows that 44 opportunities spanning 890 days were given to the Directors of Young Indian and Congress leadership. It also shows that Congress leadership including Motilal Vora tried to accuse the Income Tax officers, rather than give answers.

"5. The Order also shows that Priyanka Vadra was also part of the dubious deals to control the National Herald publishing company AJL.

"6. The allotment of more than three lakh shares of AJL to Congress President Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka was a violation of Companies Act too.

"7. Young Indian receiving Rs.1 crore from a Kolkata based company Doltex was nothing but a hawala transaction involving money laundering.

"8. Young Indian and AJL Directors Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez and Gandhi family aides Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda acted dubiously to facilitate the grabbing of Rs.2000 crores worth assets of National Herald by Young Indian’s controlling Directors Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi."

................................................................................................

"The options before the Congress leadership are to file an appeal against this Assessment Order before the Income Tax Commissioner and then in the Income Tax Tribunal. After this, an appeal can be filed in High Court and Supreme Court. This Assessment Order also shows that Congress leadership had approached the Delhi High Court to stop the Income Tax from assessing and the petition was rejected."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Jan 24 – The silence of Congress on the Income Tax Assessment Order in NH case is deafening 

"Why is Congress observing Maun vrat? 

"The silence being maintained by the Congress party and its leadership for the past five days after the exposé of Income Tax Assessment Order (ITAO) against Young Indian (YI) is deafening. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi together own about 76% of Young Indian, an entity they established to grab the assets of Associate Journals Limited[65]. The Assessment Order dated December 27, 2017, was revealed by the main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in a trial court on January 20, 2018, to prove that his charges in the criminal case have been ratified by the Income Tax department.

"Congress leadership must have received the ITAO dated December 27 at least by the first week of January. The Order clearly states the Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crores loan to Associated Journal Limited (AJL) a complete lie. It also asserts that this blatant lie was engineered to grab the Rs.2000 crores assets by the Gandhi family who floated a new company called Young Indian. The Order says that Young Indian has concealed a taxable income of Rs.414 crores. This means that Young Indian has to pay a fine ranging from 100 to 300% of the concealed Income and YI’s directors will have to face criminal prosecution. As of December 28, 2017, the Directors of Young Indian, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, trusted National Secretary Oscar Fernandes, Party Treasurer Motilal Vora and Gandhi family’s close aides Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda have to face criminal prosecution for this big fraud aimed at grabbing the Rs.2000 crores worth real estate assets in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow, Panchkula in Haryana and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

................................................................................................

"Is it the shock of being found out or has the proverbial cat got Congress’s tongue? Slowly but steadily, a chorus of media has started reporting on this revelation, but Congress is unresponsive. The usual tactic of blaming the Government for using the Income Tax Department as a tool for political vendetta is missing this time around.

"In public interest, PGurus has published the entire 105 pages of the Income Tax Order exposing the loot of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi firm Young Indian[66]. More than a lakh people have visited this site in the past 24 hours, while many in the mainstream media (MSM) were keeping a studied silence. 

"With the normal response of lashing out not in show, what exactly is cooking in the kitchen of the Congress leadership? Should the silence be construed as assent? The nation wants to know."

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"Mar 19 – Delhi HC orders Young Indian to deposit Rs 10.cr in Income Tax recovery notice of Rs.250 crores 

"In a big setback to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, the Delhi High Court (HC) on Monday directed their company Young Indian to deposit Rs.10 crores ($1.67 million) first in their petition against Income Tax (IT) recovery notice of Rs.249.15 crores. The bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla directed the company to deposit half the amount with the Income Tax department before March 31 and the remaining Rs.5 crores by April 15th.

"The High Court said that subject to the deposit of the amount, the tax authorities shall not enforce the demand of Rs.249.15 crores made on the company for the assessment year 2011-12.  The High Court also sought the IT department's response to Young Indian's (YI) plea challenging the demand and the proceedings emanating from it and listed the matter for further hearing on April 24.

"Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Young Indian, told the court that it will have extreme difficulty in raising Rs.10 crores and sought the amount to be fixed at Rs.7.5 crores.  He said that the amount was being collected from contributions by individuals and it would, therefore, be tough to get more money.  He also urged the bench to allow the company to deposit the amount in court, saying it was extremely difficult to get a refund from the IT department."

Seriously? 

After renting out National Herald properties in Delhi, or a small fraction thereof, for Rs 60 lakh per month, to Government of India? 

................................................................................................

"Advocate Ashish Jain, representing the IT department, opposed the oral pleas made on YI's behalf and said the company had to actually deposit Rs.49 crores, 20 percent of the demand, for its appeal to be heard. The bench refused to grant both the pleas made orally on behalf of Young Indian and directed it to deposit Rs.10 crores with the IT department. The High Court also directed the tax authorities to expeditiously hear YI's appeal against the assessment order.

"On December 27, 2017, the Income Tax Department’s Assessment Order found that Young Indian had hushed up a taxable income of more than Rs.414 crores ($40 million)[67]. While Congress leadership has kept silent on this devastating Income Tax Order exposing the frauds in the National Herald case[68], after some weeks, BJP leader and main petitioner Subramanian Swamy produced a copy of this Income Tax Order in the trial court[69]. Even the advocates representing Sonia and Rahul were unaware of this Income Tax Order.

"The IT department has declared that Congress party’s claim of giving Rs.90 crore loans to the newspaper was a total sham and a wrong claim to facilitate Gandhi family-controlled company Young Indian to dubiously take over the ownership of the lands and buildings across India. The 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order has declared that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled Young Indian’s actual taxable income is more than Rs.414 crores and canceled the firm’s tax exemption certificate.

................................................................................................

"The Income Tax, in its detailed Assessment Order described the takeover of erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by Young Indian as a “premeditated scheme of tax evasion”, adventure, fraudulent, involved in hawala nature activities etc.

"After this order, IT fined and issued a recovery notice for Rs.249.15 crores ($40 million) from Young Indian. The company controlled by Sonia and Rahul with 76 percent shares, has approached the High Court seeking a direction to stay the recovery of the demand of tax and interest of Rs 249.15 crores, raised following a notice of December 27, 2017, issued under section 156 of the I-T Act for the assessment year 2011-12.

"It has also challenged the order of the IT authorities rejecting the firm's application and sought a stay on the direction to pay Rs.49.83 crores ($8 million), that is 20 per cent of the total disputed outstanding demand."

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"Mar 28 – Why is Congress quiet on the IT fine of Rs.249.15 crores? 

"The normally loquacious Congress party has been keeping a stony silence on the Demand Notice of Income Tax (IT) Department, levying a fine of Rs.249.15 crores ($38.4 million) on Young Indian. PGurus have accessed the three-page Income Tax Demand Notice and it shows that the tax notice was dated December 27, 2017, giving them up to 30 days to appeal. This notice was sent by the tax department on Young Indian for hushing up taxable income to the tune of Rs.414 crores ($63.8 million).

"The 105-page Assessment Order came in the public domain only after the petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy placed this document in the trial court in his private case on January 20, 2018[70]. Even the lawyers representing Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were caught off-guard by this stunning document exposing more frauds in the National Herald case (see Figure 83).

"Even after Swamy’s exposé, the Congress leadership has kept silent. Now it is proved that both the IT Assessment Order and the Demand Notice of Rs.249.15 crores were issued on December 27, 2017. This fine came in the public domain only on March 19, 2018, when Young Indian approached the Delhi High Court against Income Tax. The tax sleuths demanded Rs.49 crores deposit to entertain the appeal against the Tax demand of Rs.249.15 crores. The three-page Income Tax Demand Notice is produced at the end of this article.

................................................................................................

"In Delhi High Court, Congress leaders pleaded that they have no money. Young Indian was represented by noted tax lawyer Arvind Datar. The Bench comprising Justices Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla ordered Young Indian to deposit Rs.10 crores ($1.54 million) to entertain their first appeal to Commissioner of Income Tax[71]. As per the order, Young Indian has to deposit Rs. Five crores ($0.77 million) before March 31 and the balance has to be deposited by April 15.

"Young Indian was controversially floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in late 2010 to take over the more than Rs.2000 crores-worth ($308.2 million) land and building assets of the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals. The mother and son are Directors and are having 38 percent shares each in Young Indian. Their trusted persons and Congress leaders Oscar Fernandez and Motilal Vora each have 12 percent shares in this company, which is now facing Rs.249.15 crores tax dues. The Sonia family’s close aides Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are also Directors of this controversial firm[72].

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"The question is the continued silence of Congress leadership on one of the biggest Income Tax dues. Is Sonia Gandhi thinking of doing some deals to hush-up the Income Tax notice with certain pliable persons in Government? Why else would Ministry of Finance not allow the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to register a case of money laundering in National Herald? The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also not been allowed to register a case of land grabbing, of land allotted to National Herald by Young Indian. Maharashtra Government is yet to act on the report of the land grabbed in Bandra[73]. The only action came from Haryana Government[74], and we are seeing so many hit jobs against the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar from several quarters and also by a section of the Dynasty-Slave media houses. These entities create outrage against him and seek his resignation at the drop of a hat. Is this stony silence a plot to make some sort of a deal to hush-up the huge tax dues of Rs.249.15 crores?"

Latter part about hit jobs, yes, one does recall. 

"PGurus accessed the below published three-page Income Tax Demand notice from the more than 300-page petition of Congress in the Delhi High Court:"

Author gives the said notice in photographic format. 

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"Mar 31 – Is Kapil Sibal dilly-dallying on answering the allegations of controversial company purchase and land acquisition? 

"Yesterday – March 30 – Congress leader and noted lawyer Kapil Sibal conducted a Press Conference. It was expected that Sibal would be replying to the allegations aired against him by Union Minister Smriti Irani on the report published by the website OpIndia on the controversial acquiring of a company for just a few lakh rupees and getting land worth Rs.89 crores ($13.7 million)[75].

"Here is the 38-minute-long video of Sibal’s press conference[76]. Sibal spent most of the time on the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam paper leak and Justice Chelameshwar’s letter. The rest was his usual rhetoric against the Prime Minister and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). During the QA (Question and Answer) session, two questions came up on the allegations against him on the dubious acquisition of the company and his links with controversial businessmen, the Gupta brothers of South Africa. In two minutes Sibal closed the chapter by quoting a South African newspaper which said that they “found no money laundering or fraud practices by Sibal.” And to the second question of filing a case against OpIndia report, Sibal quipped that he will decide when and what and how to do.

"Does this mean that Sibal has something to hide or he doesn’t want to discuss the subject? This is typical Sibal style. If there was any wrong or fault in the report of OpIndia website or subsequent allegations and questions raised by Smriti Irani, Sibal would have put on a show of spectacular dimensions, countering them. His response felt more like a whimper than the roar of a lion.

................................................................................................

"The OpIndia article written Nupur J Sharma is very clear - In February 2017, Sibal and wife purchased a company for few lakhs of rupees1. This company was formerly owned by South Africa based controversial Indian origin businessmen and by the purchase of this company at a throwaway price, Sibal and wife became the owners of the company’s plush property in Delhi worth about Rs.89 crores."

So the lady has been persecuted viciously, and her supporters butchered literally, across India, because she dared to write against the holy axis DNA family, just as Haryana CM, Khattar, got scandals thrown at him after he behaved impeccably as per law, against the same family - its suddenly obvious! 

................................................................................................

"Being the lead Advocate of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case, to put it satirically, the Advocate Sibal appears to have learned the art from his clients. The National Herald case, in a nutshell, is that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi floated a company for just Rs.5 lakhs ($8000) capital and dubiously became the owners of Rs.2000 crores ($307 million) worth properties of National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL). See the similarities?!

"Sibal now relays the South African newspapers’ observation that they found nothing on Sibal’s money laundering. How can a newspaper find money laundering, that too from South Africa, on an Indian property? The newspaper report mainly concentrated on the controversial activities of South African businessmen the Guptas and Piyoosh Goyal. Meanwhile in 2013, when Sibal was a powerful Minister in UPA-2, handling Telecom, Law and IT, these Gupta brothers and Piyoosh Goyal were on the radar of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for bribing the State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda officers. The case reached nowhere as these persons are harboured safely in South Africa. Now in 2017, their Indian company is acquired by Sibal and wife at throwaway prices reminiscent of the National Herald scam.

................................................................................................

"What is ironic is that when he was arguing for The Wire website in a defamation case by BJP President Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, Kapil Sibal argued that it was the right of journalists to ask questions! Here is a complete reversal of stand on his part when he says that he will file a case against OpIndia website for asking questions on his purchase of a company and getting a high-value land by this purchase.

"Sibal’s answers to the South African newspaper were also different at different times. Instead of making a defamation threat, it would be nice of Sibal to clear the air on the allegation. We agree that it is his prerogative to file a defamation suit, but we also need to remind Sibal the basic rule – Telling the truth is not Defamation.

"So, Mr. Sibal, when are you conducting a full-fledged press conference on these allegations reported by OpIndia website and Union Minister Smriti Irani? The nation wants to know!"

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"Apr 21 – Congress objects on agreeing to their own documents. Arguments to start on May 5 

"The tricks of Congress leadership in National Herald case is coming to an end as the trial court has fixed for the final hearing of submission of documents for May 5. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were evading from the admission of their own documents filed in National Herald submitted in High Court and Supreme Court for the past few months. The problem for Sonia and Rahul is that these documents produced by them in the higher courts prove the case of their illegalities which is now ratified by the Income Tax Department’s fine of Rs.249 crores[77].

"On Saturday, appearing before the Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, petitioner Subramanian Swamy said that the accused Congress leaders either say Yes or No to the documents submitted by themselves in the higher courts, that too sworn under oath. These documents expose the scam in the National Herald newspaper acquisition in covert ways, he said. Instead of countering Swamy, Congress leaders’ advocates preferred to bring the printouts of Swamy’s tweets amounting to “defamation” against Sonia and Rahul. The advocates even brought out the article of PGurus ReTweeted by Swamy about the Income Tax Assessment Orders[78]. The advocates argued that these all amount to defamation, rather than avoiding the boomerang that will happen if they admit a Yes or a No to the documents submitted by them in the higher courts.

"Countering Congress lawyers, Swamy said that these kinds of arguments cannot go on and on and they have to explicitly admit or deny the truth about the documents. As Congress leaders were objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents for a long time, Swamy had produced the copies of the documents of Congress annual returns and documents of Associated Journal and Young Indian and sought Congress leaders should either deny or vouch for the authenticity of their own documents.

................................................................................................

"Apart from this the National Herald case came to a crucial stage after the Income Tax has slapped fine of Rs.249 crores to Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian. The Income Tax Order has proved that Congress claim of giving loan of Rs.90 crores was a total lie and they had engaged in hawala kind of money laundering with dubious Kolkata based shell companies[79]. The Order also said that floating of Young Indian was a covert operation to usurp the huge land assets of the National Herald publishing firm Associated Journal.

"Congress lawyer’s strategy was to delay the case by straightway crossing petitioner Subramanian Swamy for a long time. But Swamy’s strategy was to first bring out the crucial documents in the scam and cut short the crossing procedures, say legal experts. 

"With Saturday’s order by the Magistrate’s, both sides have to argue on the production of the documents in the case. The arguments are to be started on May 5."

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"May 06 – Sonia and Rahul object Swamy’s demand for production and admission of their own documents 

"With Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy sparring and accusing each other, the May 5th hearing of the National Herald case is going to be an indicator of the forthcoming tussles in the high profile, politically sensitive case. Sonia and Rahul vehemently denied producing the Congress party’s documents and their company documents as demanded by Swamy and even went to the extent of neither denying nor confirming their documents produced by the BJP leader.

"Both sides traded charges for delaying the trial. “He wanted to delay the process and wanted to trade charges against us permanently by coming with new-new demands,” said the battery of Congress lawyers led by R S Cheema, Ramesh Gupta, and Rebecca John. Congress lawyers argued against Swamy’s demands the whole afternoon of more than two hours with Swamy intervening in between several times to provoke them. After heated and tit-for-tat arguments, Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted the case to May 14 and Swamy is expected to start his replies.

"“They (Gandhis) had submitted various documents in the Supreme Court. Now, I am asking them to confront the documents (in this court). The accused should stop wasting the court's time and either admit or deny these documents,” Swamy said, reiterating that Sonia Gandhi should admit or deny whether these documents were hers.

"“Let her just say, these documents were submitted by her in Supreme Court or deny. If deny I can file another case of perjury or contempt of court. You have no choice. Either admit or deny,” Swamy said.

................................................................................................

"The advocates appearing for the Gandhis, however, told the court that Swamy was wasting its time and delaying the trial by filing “unauthenticated documents” in the case. “The applications filed by the complainant are not proper. The documents which the complainant wants to be confronted are neither original nor certified. The court cannot even look at them.”

"“Every time when the complainant has to step into the witness box, he files a new application. Further, he wants summoning of documents but where are the witnesses who will authenticate them? We will admit or deny the original documents, not the photocopies. All these documents have been moved with the purpose to delay the trial and they must be dismissed,” said Congress lawyer Ramesh Gupta.

"“You just admit or deny is these are the documents you people submitted to Supreme Court by sworn affidavit. Then let us start the trial,” reiterated Swamy.

................................................................................................

"Regarding Swamy's submissions that he had found certain documents related to the Income Tax department, lying along with newspapers at his doorstep, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, quipped that it showed the breach in his security.

"“This is the situation. He (Swamy) is a Z-plus security holder, and nobody is able to protect his house[80]. Anyone can come and throw something,” Gupta said. 

"“But the same documents of Income Tax, fining your people of Rs. 250 crores are later submitted by you people in Delhi High Court against Income Tax,” said Swamy producing the High Court Orders asking Congress party to pay first Rs.10 crore to appeal against Rs.250 crores fine on Young Indian[81], the company owned by Sonia and Rahul. Swamy was aided by his legal team led by wife Roxna Swamy, Ishkaran Bhandari, Yatinder Chaudhary and Dilip Kumar.

"According to legal experts, Congress leaders wanted to cross examine Swamy and drag the case out for a long time in crossing and Swamy’s idea is to bring documents first to cut short the crossing. According to senior lawyers, for the past one year, Sonia and Rahul are objecting tooth and nail on Swamy’s demand for production of documents of Congress balance sheets and accounts of the claim of giving Rs.90 crores to National Herald newspaper publishing firm Associated Journals and money flow to Young Indian[82]. Now Income Tax has found that Congress claim of funding AJL was a total lie and the object of Young Indian floating by Sonia and Rahul was to dubiously acquire the land assets worth more than Rs.2000 crores owned by the Associated Journals Limited."

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"May 14 – Court to pass orders on May 26 for production of documents. Congress continues to object to producing documents 

"With BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Congress lawyers of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi sparring over the production of documents in the National Herald case, the trial Court has reserved for passing orders on this crucial matter in the case for May 26. On Monday, Swamy insisted that all the documents he sought in the case were produced by Sonia Gandhi in Supreme Court and she must either admit or deny it and can’t delay the process by frivolous arguments.

"“As per main accused Sonia Gandhi’s affidavit all the originals are with her and she produced the copy of these documents. I am having her certified copy. And I also produced the photocopy of the Income Tax Assessment Order putting fine on Young Indian of Rs.249 crores. They also produced the same copy before the High Court and the High Court had asked them to pay Rs.10 crores for entertaining appeal. Now they have to just admit or deny these documents before this Court, rather than wasting time of this court,” said Swamy provoking Congress lawyers by insisting on terming Sonia Gandhi as accused."

What else did they wish an accused person in court to be called? 

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"Swamy’s arguments were vehemently objected by Congress lawyers R S Cheema and Rebecca John who accused Swamy of delaying the process with frivolous demands. “Most of them are photocopies and there is a lot of mischief in the petitions,” they said, arguing that Swamy’s petition for documents lacks merit.

"Swamy said that he will also file to get certified copies of other accused filed documents in the Supreme Court. “Photocopy or not photocopy. Why can’t you admit or deny it? The originals are with you only,” said Swamy.

"After 30 minutes of arguments, counter and cross-cross arguments, the Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted for May 26 to pass Orders on the matter."

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"May 26 – The Special Court fast tracks NH trial. Allows Swamy to produce documents and summon officials 

"The two-year-long fierce arguments and counter-arguments for production of documents in the National Herald case between BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Congress leadership came to an end on Saturday, with the Special Court ordering for examination of petitioner Swamy from July 21 and allowing him to produce the documents and summoning of officials to authenticate it. Meanwhile, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal rejected Swamy’s demand for admit or deny by the main accused Sonia Gandhi on the documents produced by him. The newly formed designated court for the trial of MPs and MLAs was also ordered to complete the trial in the politically sensitive case to be finished within a year.

"Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were vehemently objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents from 2016. Earlier, the trial court had ordered for production of documents in January 2016 and High Court has quashed the order citing that the trial court did not hear the version of the accused before passing the order. After this Swamy’s fresh petition for summoning documents were rejected by the court, citing that the demand was very vague and for a large number of documents and not specific.

"Later Swamy made another petition under Section 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for the admission or denial of documents by the accused, citing that the same documents he wanted were already produced by Sonia Gandhi in the Supreme Court. This was considered as a goof-up by Congress lawyers when Delhi High Court upheld the summoning of Congress leaders in December 2015. To prevent the trial, the lawyers approached the Supreme Court and in haste attached many documents which were self-incriminating, say legal experts. They say Swamy filed a petition under Section 294 of CrPC to put Sonia Gandhi in a tight spot. If she admits these documents, she herself admitted the case and if she denies, then perjury case can be filed, they add.

................................................................................................

"“The contention of the complainant is that these are the documents of accused themselves as they were filed along with the Special Leave Petition filed by one of the accused (Sonia Gandhi) in Supreme Court. Be that as it may, this will not give a right to the complainant to get these copies mandatorily admitted or denied by the accused. None of the accused are stated to be the author of any of these documents. The purpose of Section 294 is to truncate the trial, but this does not mean that rules of evidence can be compromised with,” said the Order dismissing Swamy’s demand.

"Observing delay for more than two years in the trial, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal said that after his examination, Swamy can produce the documents and its authenticity can be verified by summoning the concerned officials. Apart from the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited and Young Indian firm’s documents, Swamy wanted authentication of crucial Income Tax Order indicting Sonia and Rahul owned firm Young Indian for hushing up the taxable income of Rs.415 crores and fining of Rs.249 crores.

................................................................................................

"This Income Tax Assessment Order clearly exposes the fraud committed by the top Congress leadership in grabbing the Rs.5000 crores worth land assets and buildings of Associates Journals Limited (AJL) spread across in many cities across the country. The Delhi High Court recently ordered that Young Indian should deposit Rs.10 crores if they wanted to appeal against the Income Tax fine of Rs.249 crores. The IT Order also exposed that Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crores loan to AJL was totally wrong.

"“In these circumstances, keeping in view of the fact that the trial is getting delayed, it has to be put back on the right track. Therefore, in order to streamline this trial, it is directed that the complainant shall first examine himself as the first witness of the prosecution and shall lay the foundation of his case. Thereafter, the witnesses, officials or otherwise to prove the documents by with the complainant further want to prove his case shall be summoned,” said the Special Court, fast-tracking the politically sensitive case."

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"Jul 21 – Subramanian Swamy starts submitting evidence 

"With the petitioner Subramanian Swamy on Saturday starting to submit evidence, the politically sensitive National Herald case entered a critical stage. Several times a battery of lawyers for the Congress were objecting to the points submitted by Swamy when he was giving oral evidence by stating the crux of the case before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Samar Vishal.

"Swamy informed the Court that he came to know about the irregularities in running the National Herald newspaper publisher company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) from the late journalist Bhushan Raina, who was the union leader of journalists who worked at the newspaper. Raina told him that journalists were facing salary dues from 2008 onwards.

"During the 2011 period, Swamy said he came to know that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi floated the controversial firm Young Indian. He pointed out that he got curious when Young Indian, a small firm with a capital of just five lakh rupees acquired Associated Journals Limited, a firm of 71 years of working with huge land assets across the country. Swamy said that he also noticed that Passport Office and Tata Consultancy office boards also at the Herald House, located in the Press Enclave Area, ITO in Delhi.

"Swamy pointed out that as per the landmark Supreme Court judgment Indian Express Vs Union of India, this Press Enclave Area is allotted to newspaper publishing firms by the Government at a very subsidised rate. “Therefore, I tried to make enquires, how Herald House belonging to AJL (Associated Journal Limited) could be renting out the premises directly or indirectly to non-newspaper, commercial or government offices,” he said.

................................................................................................

"The petition also said the second accused and Congress President Rahul Gandhi in an email query to Pioneer newspaper journalist J Gopikrishnan wrote that they have no plans to revive National Herald newspaper. Swamy’s this submission was objected to by the Congress lawyers, arguing that his point is objected on the ground of admissibility.

"“Thereafter, I made further enquiries and found that the method by which AJL ended up as a subsidiary of Young Indian (YI) was most curious,” said Swamy. This was also objected to by the Congress lawyers saying this was only an opinion of Swamy. The BJP leader countered that he would produce all the documents in the end after submitting his statements as evidence.

"Another submission of Swamy accused that Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are “undeniably close advisors” of the main accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were vehemently objected to by the Congress lawyers, saying this was only Swamy’s opinion.

"Swamy stated that with just five lakh capital, the newly floated firm Young Indian had acquired 99.1% of the AJL by a claim of settlement by Young Indian of dues of Rs.90 crores by AJL to Congress party. He said this is the crux of the cheating and conspiracy charges in his case and he will produce all documentary evidence to all the submission of evidence made by him. After the 30 minutes-long submission, the Court posted the next hearing for the continuation of evidence to August 25.  After Swamy’s submission of evidence, he will be cross-examined in length by a battery of Congress lawyers led by Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi representing all the seven accused."

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"Jul 21 – Congress leaders file petition to restrain Subramanian Swamy from Tweeting on NH 

"The accused Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Motilal Vora filed a petition to restrain the “uncontrollable” petitioner Subramanian Swamy from tweeting about the National Herald case matters. The Congress lawyers filed the petition on Saturday during the starting day of submission of evidence by Swamy in the main case. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal expressed disinterest on the petition first and later asked Swamy to file his views of this petition.

"The petition attached photocopies of many tweets of Swamy calling Sonia as TDK (short form for Devil Tadaka character in Ramayan) and calling Rahul Gandhi as Buddhu (foolish guy). The Congress leaders said that Swamy has crossed all levels in freedom of expression and tweeting of the case matters is sub-judice.

"“That the Applicant has time and again noticed that the complainant has been putting various posts in Social Media regarding the daily proceedings of the instant case for purpose of causing defamation of the accused and vilification of court process... Complainant (Swamy) has been indulging in loud and persistent publicity amounting to an interference with the administration of justice. Before and after every date of hearing he unleashes hostile publicity through tweets, posts in Social Media and/ or statements to the media,” said Congress leaders demanding restraining Swamy from tweeting about the National Herald case.

"The accused Congress leaders said that Swamy’s tweets are detrimental to their rights to a fair trial. “The freedom of expression is an important right, but such a right is not absolute in as much as the Constitution itself, while it grants the freedom under Article 19(1)(a), permitted the legislature to impose reasonable restriction on the right, in the interests of various matters, one of which is the fair administration of justice as protected by Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. Moreover, when the matter is sub-judice, the complainant Swamy) has no right to comment on the day-to-day proceedings and transgress the settled parameters of fair trial,” said the three-page petition attaching photocopies of many Swamy’s tweets on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

................................................................................................

"The petition also pointed out that Swamy had tweeted about the Rs.250 crores Income Tax fine on Young Indian. Congress lawyers argued that this was wrong on the part of Swamy to place the Income Tax documents, which were later kept in a sealed cover. The lawyers also produced Swamy’s Tweeting PGurus article on this regard[83].

"Earlier in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court also the Congress lawyers produced several tweets of Swamy to argue that Swamy maintains personal vendetta and animosity against Sonia and Rahul.  Judges did not entertain the production of the tweets. This is the first time Congress leaders file a petition on this regard.

"Coming out from Court, Swamy said that these people (Sonia and Rahul) are still in Emergency mindset and he will give a fitting reply. Within minutes Swamy went ahead, showing his anger by tweeting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should go for medical checkup after Rahul Gandhi’s dramatic hugging inside the Lok Sabha on Friday. He said there would be chances of poisoning though hugging while keeping hidden syringe."

Alarming possibility indeed, and glad he's safe so far. 

Author gives the said tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy in a photographic format. 

"Earlier in 2011, UPA Government filed a similar petition to restrain Swamy during the 2G cases before the Supreme Court. The Government produced newspaper clippings of Subramanian Swamy’s speeches about sending Sonia Gandhi to jail and urging Italian foods in the menu of jails. The Judges dismissed the petition with a smile after the argument of Central Government’s lawyer P P Rao, who repeatedly sought “need of some sort of restriction on this person” who has no limits."

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................................................................................................

"Aug 05 – Urban Development Ministry issues notice to takeover the Herald House 

"In a further confirmation of illegalities in the National Herald case, the Urban Development Ministry has issued a notice to take over the Herald House, the headquarters of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), publisher of the now-defunct National Herald newspaper. The notice was issued to the AJL, who got the land for publishing newspaper at subsidised rates. The Ministry’s action came after its probe team found that the Herald House and premises allotted in the Press Enclave in ITO, Delhi was not being used for the publication of a newspaper for the past 10 years, which is a violation of the allotment rules.

"For the past eight years, the holders of the building (literally the firm Young Indian (YI) controlled by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) were earning more than Rs.80 lakhs ($117,000) per month by renting out two floors of the building to Passport Seva Kendra.

"In the last week of December 2017, the Income Tax department has fined Rs.250 crores ($36.5 million) on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi controlled firm Young Indian, which took over AJL in “covert and fraudulent” ways. A few months back, Delhi High Court had ordered YI to deposit Rs.10 crores for entertaining its appeal against the Income Tax fine order[84].

................................................................................................

"According to highly placed sources in the Urban Development Ministry, two months back a probe team had inspected the premises of Herald House and found that no newspaper publishing activity was happening for the past 10 years. The plot for Herald House was allotted in the mid-50s at a very subsidised rates for publication of newspaper by AJL like other media organisations in the Press Enclave Area. As per the lease agreement with the Government, AJL was expected to return the place as and when it stopped newspaper publication.

"In a similar way, prime lands were allotted for the publication of National Herald across the country. The lands were allotted at very cheap rates in Lucknow, Patna, Mumbai, Panchkula, Bhopal, Indore and all these land allotments are facing probes by various state governments.

................................................................................................

"Urban Development Ministry was acting on the complaint filed by the main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. After Swamy’s expose, the Ministry has received several complaints of similar violations against many other buildings in the Press Enclave Area and probe teams would be asked to conduct investigation and details of the illegal holders of the premises in the garb of newspaper publication[85].

"In the trial court, the National Herald case is now during the process of submission of evidence by the petitioner Subramanian Swamy, who has started his deposition on July 21. The next hearing is scheduled for August 25. The accused Congress leaders also filed a petition in the court for restraining Swamy from tweeting about the case details and defaming them[86]."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Aug 08 – IT catches Rahul for hushing up YI Directorship of Rs.154 crores income, approaches Delhi HC to quash order 

"The Delhi High Court on Wednesday denied relief to Congress President Rahul Gandhi from restraining Income Tax for reassessing his Income Tax return of 2011-2012, for hiding his Directorship in Young Indian in the National Herald case. After slapping a fine of Rs.250 crores on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi firm Young Indian in December 2017, for hushing up the Rs.414 crores income in 2011, the Income Tax found that Rahul Gandhi hushed up his Directorship in Young Indian in tax returns as well.

"Income Tax served notice on Rahul Gandhi for re-assessing his Income Tax return of 2011-2012 in March 2018 and he approached the Delhi High Court for quashing the Income Tax move accusing them of coercion. However, the Judges declined to give relief. The Court also rejected Rahul’s demand to ban media from reporting the Income Tax procedures in the National Herald case.

................................................................................................

"The bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla listed the matter for further hearing on August 14, after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta opposed issuance of any interim order by the court. The ASG, however, assured the bench that till the next date, no coercive step would be taken against Rahul by the tax department.

"Rahul’s lawyers led by Arvind Datar argued that they had received no income from Young Indian and sought an interim order from the court as the case related to the assessment is listed in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on Thursday (August 9).

"Here the interesting fact is that the National Herald scam was exposed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on November 1, 2012. This shows that during the filing of his Income Tax Returns of 2011-2012, Rahul cleverly hid his Directorship of his then secret firm Young Indian, floated to covertly acquire the entire assets of defunct newspaper National Herald.

................................................................................................

"According to the tax department, Rahul's assessment for the years 2011-12 was decided to be reopened as he did not disclose that he was a director in the company -- Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI) - since 2010.

"As per the tax department, the shares Rahul has in YI would lead him to have an income of Rs.154 crores and not about Rs.68 lakhs, as was assessed by it earlier.

"The department has in the instant case applied section 147 of the Income Tax Act, which provides for bringing under the tax net any income which has escaped assessment in the original assessment.

"Rahul’s lawyers said the query put to their client during the scrutiny of his assessment was whether he had any interest in any company or sister concern in which he was a director and he had replied in the negative as YI was a Section 25 company, a non-profit entity, and hence no director would have any interest in it. To this, the bench remarked, “in which event, it is a nice conduit.”

"The tax department has already issued a demand notice for around Rs.250 crores to YI for the assessment year 2011-12. Delhi High Court in March 2018 has already ordered Young Indian to deposit Rs.10 crores if they wanted to appeal against the Income Tax fine of Rs.250 crores[87]."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Aug 14 –  Income Tax also catches Sonia Gandhi for hushing up Directorship of YI and hushing Rs.154 crores 

"Like son Rahul[88], mother Sonia Gandhi is also caught by the Income Tax Department for hiding the Directorship of National Herald in their tax returns and evasion of taxable income of Rs.154 crores ($23 million). Accusing Income Tax department of coercive actions, Congress former President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that they did not earn any income in the Young Indian- National Herald newspaper deal. Congress leader and lawyer P Chidambaram argued for Sonia Gandhi on her petition against the Income Tax order to reassess her annual tax return of 2011-2012 for not disclosing the Directorship in the Young Indian, a company floated to take over the newspaper publishing firm Associated Journals in late 2010. Apart from Sonia Gandhi, another Director and Congress leader Oscar Fernandez also filed a similar petition in the case before the bench hearing Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s petition on the same matter.

"Like her son, Sonia Gandhi also requested the court to ban the media from reporting on the Income Tax related issues in the National Herald case. The Court rejected the demand reiterated by Chidambaram on behalf of Sonia Gandhi. The Bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla posted the case to August 16 for further hearing. Arguing for more than an hour, Chidambaram said that even if there was taxable income, it would not go into the hands of Young Indian’s shareholders like the former Congress President, who owns 38 percent of the firm. Rahul Gandhi also has 38 percent shares in the firm. Oscar Fernandez and Motilal Vora have 12 percent shares each.

"After hearing part arguments, when the court said it will issue a formal notice, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta said there was no need for it as he was present in the court. The court, thereafter, listed the matter for further hearing on August 16, when the ASG will argue in defence of the action taken by the tax department.

................................................................................................

"The court said that once it reserved its judgment on the conclusion of the arguments, it will ask the tax department not to take any coercive steps till the verdict was pronounced. The bench also did not issue any order restraining the reporting of contents of the petitions filed on behalf of Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and party leader Oscar Fernandez.

"The Gandhis and Fernandes have challenged the reopening of their tax assessment for the year 2011-12 in March this year. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Rahul Gandhi, said that arguments during the hearing may be reported and urged the court to order that confidentiality be maintained regarding the contents of the petitions.

"However, the bench declined to issue any such direction saying “we cannot go into all this” as it would be akin to going on a “wild-goose chase” as it was not known who reports contents of the matter and who is the source of the information.

................................................................................................

"As per the department, the shares Rahul and Sonia have in Young Indian would lead them to have an income of Rs 154 crores each. During his arguments, Chidambaram accused Income Tax of relying on the complaints filed by Subramanian Swamy, without taking his name throughout his arguments.

"Chidambaram contended, “when debt is converted to equity, it does not result in any income and, even if it does, it would not result in income for the shareholder.” He said that even if it was accepted that income was generated, “it cannot be the income of YI and its shareholders in the same assessment year of 2011-12.”

"He also argued that the tax department has “incorrectly invoked and applied” the formula for calculating the tax liability of Sonia Gandhi when her assessment for 2011-12 was reopened. Chidambaram said that when his client became a shareholder of Young Indian, she received nothing else, not even property, except 1,900 shares in the company.

................................................................................................

"He also termed as “incorrect” the tax department's claim that Rs 90 crores loaned to AJL, leading to the debt, was bogus or paper loan, saying this is not correct as the amount was loaned through 137 cheques issued over a 9-10-year period.”

"Among other objections raised by him against the reopening of the assessment was that the communication sent to his client informing about the development was not digitally signed. The assessment was reopened in March 2018 on the orders of a senior officer who was monitoring the case from 2014, he said.

"Meanwhile, in the trial court, Subramanian Swamy’s deposition and submission of documents will continue August 25[89]. In the trial court, the Congress leaders also demanded for restraining Swamy from Tweeting about the case. “I will give them a befitting reply,” said Swamy[90]."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Aug 24 – The scam gets murkier. UDM’s Show Cause Notice exposes more frauds 

"The details of more frauds committed by the Gandhi family in grabbing the National Herald newspaper’s headquarters Herald House are exposed in the probe conducted by the Urban Development Ministry. The Show Cause Notice issued to the National Herald newspaper publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL) reveals that the staffers also lied to the Ministry’s probe team about the lease allotment details being changed again, by UPA Government controlled by Sonia Gandhi in January 2013.

"The Urban Development Ministry started probe on the complaint filed by BJP leader and petitioner Subramanian Swamy on March 2018 urging the Government to take back the Herald House from AJL for violating the land lease conditions. The details of the Show Cause Notice reveal that more than half acre land in the much coveted Press Enclave Area in ITO, New Delhi was allotted for publication of National Herald newspaper for just around Rs.50000 in 1962.

................................................................................................

"The allotment was for printing and publication activities of newspapers and Government allotted the prime land for an extremely low price. In 1967, Government allowed the newspapers to rent out the higher-level floors while maintaining ground and first floor for newspaper publishing activities. This decision was taken after the hectic lobbying by newspaper barons for getting some revenue from renting out the higher floors of the building for commercial purposes. Except for hotel, cinema, and restaurant business, the higher floors were allowed for other business as per the dilution of the lease agreements approved by the Urban Ministry in 1967.

"This rule was further diluted on January 7, 2013, by the UPA Government on the request of AJL. It must be remembered that this dilution happened two months after Subramanian Swamy exposed the National Herald scam on November 1, 2012. In mid-2011, after Sonia – Rahul controlled firm Young Indian covertly took over the AJL, the first two floors were rented out to Passport Seva Kendra related operations for a huge monthly rent of Rs.80 lakhs.

................................................................................................

"“On request of AJL, vide letter dated 7-1-2013 the clause 7 of the perpetual lease was further modified to the extent that instead of basement and 1st floor, basement and any one floor of the building are required to be used for press and offices of the lesse,” said the two-page Show Cause Notice to AJL detailing the violations.

"Further, in order to confirm the present status of the activities in the premises, a three-member committee comprising officers from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs was formed to inspect the premises on the 9th of April 2018. The Committee observed that no printing press was functioning at any floor of the premises (Herald House) and no paper stock was found anywhere. However, 4th floor was stated to be used by the AJL for their press related office. As informed by AJL officials, the printing of the weekly being published by them takes place in the printing press of Indian Express at Noida. The Committee was also made available newspapers which it has started publishing again on the 24th of September 2017. When enquired whether the paper was being published before the 24th of September 2017, it was informed that the publishing was earlier stopped, and employees were given Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) due to the poor financial condition of the company. As there was no printing activity seen anywhere in the entire premises, it implies that the premises are not being used for the purpose for which the land was allotted. i. e. running of press and the terms and conditions of the lease agreement are not being adhered to.

................................................................................................

"“It was observed by the inspecting team that most of the areas of the premises have been rented out. If the premises are not being used for the primary use of printing press and related purpose, the renting out of the premises itself becomes misuse of allotted land,” said the Show Cause Notice directing AJL to reply within 30 days, invoking takeover of the building for violations.

"From the above Show Cause Notice, it is evident that the new launch of weekly by National Herald (which was a daily newspaper earlier till April 2008) in September 2017 was just a fraud to save the thousands of crores worth properties grabbed by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi firm Young Indian. The irony is that many pliable journalists joined to work in the namesake weekly launched, while forgetting the humongous fraud of looting the Rs.5000-crores-worth land and building assets of the National Herald newspaper by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Aug 25 – Swamy produces Income Tax authenticated documents puncturing Congress Rs.90 cr loan claim as evidence 

"BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday produced authenticated Income Tax department’s assessment order against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi controlled firm Young Indian in the trial court as his evidence. Congress leaders’ lawyers objected vehemently when Swamy produced the 200 plus page Income Tax order which imposed fine on Young Indian of Rs.250 crores for hushing up the taxable income of Rs.415 crores earned through the acquisition of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of National Herald newspaper in 2011.

"Congress leaders’ lawyers R S Cheema and Rebecca John argued that the production of Income Tax documents is “beyond the pleading.” During his second day of deposition, Swamy submitted the Income Tax order in a sealed cover with a covering letter from Income Tax authorities to the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal. Producing the document as his evidence, Swamy said that the Income Tax findings clearly says that Congress claim of Rs.90 crores to AJL was a total lie and non-existent one. This lie was floated to take over the AJL by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi by floating Young Indian.

"“My investigations into the claim of AJL revealed that the AJL claimed to have received Rs.90 crores as loan from AICC has not been substantiated by either the account books of AJL or the of the Congress party. This was investigated by the Income Tax authorities and they had rejected the claim that such a loan was received by AJL from the AICC,” said Swamy while producing the Income Tax authenticated assessment order.

................................................................................................

"The previous week, P Chidambaram appearing on behalf of Sonia Gandhi claimed that Rs.90 crores was paid to AJL by Congress through 137 cheques during the past 10 years from 2004. The Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta countered that this was a bogus claim and was not yet supported by any documents and both parties have not proved this, though Income Tax gave them sufficient time.

"After the arguments and counterarguments on the acceptability of the Income Tax Order, the Magistrate observed that court can check the authenticity of the document by summoning the signatories of the officials in the submitted documents. In his one hour long second day of pieces of evidence, Swamy also produced documents of Congress claim of Rs.90 crores loan. This document was earlier submitted by Sonia Gandhi in Supreme Court, challenging the summons of the trial court in 2015. Countering the objections of Congress lawyers, Swamy said that he was only submitting the documents submitted by “you people” in the Supreme Court.

"He also produced the documents of AJL’s resolution by issuing its 99.1 percent shares to Young Indian and claiming that none of the AJL’s directors have interest in Young Indian’s Board. But all the AJL Directors Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda became the Directors Young Indian, said Swamy. The Congress lawyers objected to most of the documents produced by Swamy even the same leadership in Congress party, AJL and Young Indian. For further evidence, the Court had scheduled the next date on September 17.

"Meanwhile, Motilal Vora again filed a petition against Swamy for tweeting against them and about the case matters."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Sep 10 – Delhi High Court dismisses Sonia-Rahul Gandhi petitions against Income Tax re-assessing in NH case 

"Time has started ticking for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed the pleas of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Oscar Fernandes challenging reopening of their tax assessments for 2011-12. The Income Tax issued orders to re-assess the tax returns, after finding that the Congress leaders did not reveal their directorship in the firm Young Indian, which took over the National Herald newspaper publishing firm Associated Journals Limited (AJL).  Dismissing the petitions, the Bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla said that Income Tax has right to issue such orders and directed the petitioners to approach the appropriate forum, if aggrieved by the Income Tax’s order.

"Sonia Gandhi was represented by the former Finance Minister and senior lawyer P Chidambaram and Rahul Gandhi was represented by noted tax lawyer Arvind Datar. Many Congress leaders feel that Chidambaram had gossiped against Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi and got them removed from the National Herald cases.

"The High Court has already rejected the Congress leaders’ demand for restraining media houses from publishing the news related to Income Tax process in the National Herald cases. It is an irony that Chidambaram who nowadays speaks too much on freedom of expression argued for media banning in National Herald case.

................................................................................................

"The Income Tax Department, in December 2017, fined Young Indian for Rs.250 crores for suppressing the taxable income of Rs.414 crores in 2011-2012. PGurus has already detailed the Income Tax Order on this matter[91]. After this Income Tax issued orders in March 2018 for re-assessing the income of the leaders as they had suppressed their directorship in Young Indian.

"The Young Indian was floated in December 2010 and the scam got exposed only when Subramanian Swamy exposed the matter on November 1, 2012. This shows that Sonia and Rahul kept the directorship and floating of Young Indian as a secret and hence did not declare to Income Tax in 2011 & 2012 March Income Tax Returns.

"The High Court had on August 16 reserved its order on the pleas of the three leaders after the Income Tax Department had contended that Rahul Gandhi's tax assessment for 2011-12 was reopened as material facts were concealed. The bench had orally asked the tax department not to take any coercive step against Sonia, Rahul, and Fernandes till pronouncement of its verdict.

................................................................................................

"Appearing for Income Tax Department, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had argued that the Congress leaders had alleged mala fide on the part of the tax department but had not made any averments in this regard. Congress leaders accused Income Tax of “coercing” and acting on the complaints of the BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

"The Income Tax also found that Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crores to AJL was bogus and this was bogus claim was floated to acquire the assets of AJL, which is more than Rs.5000 crores land assets across the country.  The tax department had said the shares Rahul has in Young Indian would lead him to have an income of Rs.154 crores and not about Rs.68 lakhs, as assessed earlier.

"Meanwhile, Subramanian Swamy’s submission of evidence is going on in the trial court and the next hearing is posted for September 17. After this, he will be cross-examined by a battery of Congress lawyers."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Sep 14 – Mr. Arun Jaitley, hope you have learnt your lesson for treating Sonia family with kid gloves Jaitley and the DDCA Sonia Gandhi and the Agusta Westland deal 

"Health challenged Finance Minister (FM) Arun Jaitley is being taken to the cleaners by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi. This all-out offensive must be a lesson to Jaitley and all in the BJP who are reticent about attacking the almost-but-never-the-first Family of India (Family). Arun Jaitley is widely seen as a go-between with the Family and has, in the past, ensured that any attack on them was well and properly diluted. Take the case of National Herald - Jaitley dubiously comes out in an interview with Barkha Dutt and states that the case will be over, if that Rs.90 crores loan is given back[92]. How can a Finance Minister blabber like this when the Courts, as well as Income Tax, were seized of the case? Was he trying to give a “message” to the Income Tax sleuths?"

................................................................................................

"Jaitley and the DDCA 

"The header photo says it all. Jaitley’s major weakness was and is Delhi’s cricket affairs. It is a known fact that without Sonia Gandhi’s blessings, he can’t continue even for a minute in the Delhi Cricket Association which is popularly known as DDCA (Delhi District Cricket Association). Jaitley was controlling this powerful cricket body for the past two decades and now his buddy Rajat Sharma is in charge of this coveted body. These politicians literally kicked out iconic cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi and BJP’s suspended MP Kirti Azad, who was a member of 1983 World Cup winning squad.

"See what Jaitley’s kid-gloves approach to the Family has come to. Ingrate Rahul Gandhi has not missed a chance to kick the FM on fugitive Vijay Mallya’s allegations. The Family goes for the jugular when they are cornered and do not let the minions or deal makers do the dirty work. As a Finance Minister, he has been accused of diluting many cases related to anti-corruption, which was the prime reason BJP got an absolute majority in 2014. All this “karuna” shown to the Family and nothing in return!

"It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mistake for accommodating Jaitley who managed to lose a safe Lok Sabha seat that has been with BJP for many years. Add to that Modi allotted plum posts like Defence, Information and Broadcasting, apart from the Finance and Corporate Affairs Ministry. The basic problem with Jaitley is that he is always an advocate of the Bombay Club, controlled by Tata, the Ambanis and Essar. Jaitley has the bad habit of jumping straight into the Defense side of arguments, despite being on the side of Prosecution! It is still a wonder why the Prime Minister allowed an unwell Jaitley who has a danger of infection back in the Finance Ministry. It is a complete surprise because Piyush Goyal was doing a competent job in the Finance Ministry and undoing several mistakes in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and was taking positive measures and responding well to people’s demands.

................................................................................................

"Sonia Gandhi and the Agusta Westland deal

"One more glaring instance of Jaitley’s understanding with the Family must be told. In April 2016, in the Rajya Sabha, Subramanian Swamy was supposed to lead the debate on Agusta Helicopter scam involving Sonia Gandhi. But mysteriously, when the debate started, a political novice, BJP’s Bhupender Yadav started initiating the debate and wasted 20 minutes without uttering the word “Sonia Gandhi”! That day Jaitley was not present in the House as if he wanted to distance himself from the attack of Swamy on Sonia. After Yadav’s boring speech, Swamy got a chance to speak and it was a full-frontal assault on Sonia Gandhi, a rarity in the Indian Parliament[93].

"After a few days, the issue was debated in Lok Sabha and the non-member Jaitley was present, as a Minister. Sonia Gandhi was also present. Why was Sonia present? Because she got an assurance that a Rajya Sabha-like attack was not going to happen. It is a shame that BJP with an absolute majority in Lok Sabha never attacked Sonia Gandhi on Agusta issue in the lower house! This has the signature of Jaitley written all over it.

................................................................................................

"We have seen Jaitley’s dirty games in Aircel-Maxis to help his buddy Chidambaram. We also have seen the reports of Jaitley’s daughter being a legal retainer of fugitive Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi firm[94]. As per Jaitley’s admission, they received some fees and that was later returned in December 2017! Due to his immense clout in the media, Jaitley has managed to hush up the matter and Congress also did not rake it up.  But now Congress is getting desperate and will not miss any chance to attack the government and Jaitley keeps providing ammunition.

"I don’t know if Jaitley or his family members ever held a legal retainership of Vijay Mallya and his firms. But it is a fact that it was Jaitley, who as BJP’s Karnataka in-charge helped Mallya to enter Rajya Sabha again after he ended his Congress-supported term. It is a known fact that Vijay Mallya and Jaitley have good relations. Otherwise, the State Bank of Indian (SBI) and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI)-like Public Sector Banks would have put Mallya in jail by 2015.

................................................................................................

"Jaitley owes an answer to the nation on this - Were complainant banks aware that Vijay Mallya’s Look Out Notice by CBI was diluted? It is easily seen that the CBI must have done it after the Banks' message that they can manage settlement with him. The then pliable CBI Director Anil Sinha who wasted two years in Aircel-Maxis case was totally under the control of Arun Jaitley. This is a known fact.

"We all know that it was only after PM Modi gave strong instructions that the CBI under new Director Alok Verma started acting against the corrupt Chidambaram clan. 

"Arun Jaitley must remember that the Family ensured his defeat in 2014 by putting up a strong candidate and now is being mercilessly attacked by Rahul Gandhi. All his good deeds towards the Family have done him no good."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Sep 17 – Swamy completes submission of evidence. Congress leaders to start cros on October 27 

Shouldn't that be

"Sep 17 – Swamy completes submission of evidence. Congress leaders to start cross on October 27"? 

Or is 'cros' now the official shortform for cross-examination 

................................................................................................

"With BJP leader Subramanian Swamy ending his submission of evidence in the National Herald case on Monday, the trial court has posted the case for starting of cross-examination on October 27. All the accused Congress leaders are expected to bring senior lawyers to cross-examine Swamy, which is the most interesting part in the politically sensitive National Herald case, where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are also caught by the Income Tax Dept. (IT) for hushing up Rs.414 crores taxable income, facing a Rs.250 crores penalty.

"Today (September 17) was the third day of the submission of evidence by Swamy. As soon as Swamy ended the submission, the Congress lawyers demanded to start the cross-examination by asking one question. This was a clever move by Congress lawyers to prevent Swamy from providing further evidence in between the next posting of the case. Sensing the Congress move, Swamy said that he is not prepared for the cross-examination and the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted the case to start crossing on October 27.

................................................................................................

"In his one-hour long submission of evidence today, Swamy concentrated on the production of documents related to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi in the formation of new firm Young Indian and the acquisition of National Herald newspaper publishing firm Associated Journal Limited (AJL). Most of the documents and evidence submitted by Swamy were objected to by Congress leaders, accusing him of going “beyond the complaint.”

"“Thereafter, accused No: 3 Mr. Motilal Vora as representative of Young Indian and also as Treasurer of the Congress party at that time approached the Chairman of Managing Director of AJL, who was also Motilal Vora and made the proposals that since AJL was not in a position to discharge or liquidate the debt, Young Indian as owner of the debt will accept insisted of nine crores or thereabouts issue fresh shares at the 1937 price of Rs.10,” said Swamy submitting the documents. Congress lawyers objected to Swamy’s statements that Vora did all illegalities knowingly.

................................................................................................

"Congress lawyers also objected to the production of journalist J Gopikrishnan’s emails to Rahul Gandhi where the latter clearly says that he has no intention to re-launch National Herald newspaper. Congress lawyers argued that these emails are not at all the part of the case.

"Completing the submission of evidence, Swamy said that all the accused including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul of engaging in criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation of properties and cheating.

"Meanwhile, on October 6, the arguments by Congress leaders and Swamy will take place on the Congress leaders’ objections on the “highly objectionable” tweeting by Swamy."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Oct 06 – Congress demands Court restrain Swamy from Tweeting 

"Congress leaders on Saturday demanded interim stay on restraining BJP leader Subramanian Swamy from “derogatory style” of tweeting about the National Herald case and Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.  However, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal did not heed the demands and posted the case for further arguments on October 20, as Swamy sought time to reply.

"The Courtroom was full of fun and the Judge seemed to have enjoyed when Congress lawyers started reading out and produced more than 2000 tweets of Swamy accusing Sonia and Rahul. The Congress leaders lead lawyer R S Cheema said that Swamy is always mentioning Sonia Gandhi as TDK. He said that TDK is short for Tadaka. “Tadaka was Rakshasi (lady demon) who killed many Brahmins and was killed by Lord Rama,” said Cheema, leading to laughter in the courtroom. Cheema cited several times that Swamy was calling his clients as TDK and Buddhu. However, he did not specify who Buddhu is.

"“He is tweeting wildly. Even court procedures were misinterpreted. He is abusing us also. He is calling us Congi lawyers. What is the meaning of this? We are lawyers and not Congi lawyers,” Cheema went on, citing many tweets of Swamy in his 30-minute arguments. However senior lawyers like Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi were not present. There is a rumor in the Congress circles that former Finance Minister P Chidambaram had complained to Sonia Gandhi about the poor performance of his colleagues and got them removed from the case."

They seem to lack brains. 

Congi is obviously short for Congress(I)! So yes, if they defend the half axis DNA family, they are definitely congi lawyers! 

................................................................................................

"After the Congress lawyer’s arguments of more than 30 minutes, Swamy said that he needs time to reply to all these allegations. “Why seeking time? Do you need to tweet again? Within half an hour you will start tweeting,” Cheema commented when Judge posted the case to October 20. Judge did not heed to the Congress demand of interim stay. He was seen most of the time enjoying with a smile when the lawyers were reading out Swamy’s “derogatory” tweets.

"Coming out from the court, Swamy told the media that on October 20, he will give a fitting reply to the Congress leadership, who is nowadays talking too much on freedom of expression. ... "

Author gives another tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy, again in photographic format. This one describes the session in Patiala Court as :interesting and enjoyable", and promises a fitting response at the next session of the Court, "which will (be) even more interesting and enjoyable"! 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Oct 16 – Swamy’s anti-corruption, legal battles and its effect on South Indian politics 

"Subramanian Swamy’s efforts to cleanse southern states’ politics has started yielding results. Tamil Nadu politics minus Chidambaram’s (PC) influence will be ethical and healthy. Swamy’s long legal battle with PC & his corrupt family is reaching its logical conclusion. In fact, Congresspeople should thank Dr. Swamy for prosecuting corrupt PC so that the Grand Old Party can be liberated from the maximum corrupt practices promoted by Chidambaram since he became a power centre in the party. Chidambaram was the architect and author of all the mega scams in India namely 2G, Coal, Non-Performing Assets (NPA) scam, Aircel Maxis, NDTV, Vasan Eye Care, Saradha Scam, Forex derivates scam[95], Airbus scandal to name a few that rocked the nation.

"It was Subramanian Swamy in August 2018, who unlocked the clandestine relationship between PC, Ahmed Patel with Congress party’s Karnataka money bag D K Shivakumar and handed over the evidence to investigative agencies leading to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registering case against DK recently[96]. IT department has already collected enough evidence against this agent of PC and Ahmed Patel who with his set of conduits’ operated cash collection for his Delhi bosses.  Incidentally, the set of information regarding the corrupt trio was provided to Swamy by a rival group of disgruntled Congress leaders unhappy with the JD(S)-Congress party alliance to form the collation government.  A stream of classified information is flowing now due to the vertical spilt in the Congress party that includes information on the controversial Govind Raju diary wherein the Income Tax (IT) department has raised demand from the tainted Congress MLC.

................................................................................................

"With the seizure of the Rs.54 crores-worth properties of Karti Chidambaram, there is a huge unrest in the entire Congress party. The imminent action that was stalled by certain forces in the government seems to have been broken by the Prime Minister’s (PM) interference on the specific complaint made by Subramanian Swamy to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The Congress leaders and associates likely to be prosecuted are P Chidambaram & family, Robert Vadra, Ahmed Patel, BS Hooda, DK Shivakumar, and Virbhadra Singh. In the National Herald case, Swamy has shown the Indian courts to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and now they are also facing Income Tax notices. Modi government has yielded to the advice of Swamy to fast-track investigations against the Congress leadership so that BJP can go to the 2019 elections with the conviction that they have delivered on the election promise of dealing with corruption head-on.  PMO has instructed the investigative agencies to fast-track pending investigation to bring confidence in the common masses, and this is sure to bring floating votes back to the BJP.

"Swamy has vowed to track down all the White-Collar criminals to cleanse the politics. After hunting down Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case, P Chidambaram & family in multiple corruption cases, BS Hooda in HUDA case, DK Shivakumar in Hawala case linked to AP & PC, Swamy is likely to push for the prosecution of the culprits in the court of law."

Heaven grant his success in this!

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"Karnataka and Tamil Nadu politics will likely witness a tremendous structural change in the next few days. Subramanian Swamy is a man in a hurry to convict the Netas who have looted the country and they are responsible for the entire mess in the country including poverty, Naxalism, poor health care and disastrous education system, and a poor justice system. According to his own words, “Corruption in India is the biggest cause of misery for millions for native Indians and I have taken a pledge to wipe it off from the country with or without the support of the government machinery.”

"Apart from corruption cases, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are eagerly looking to Swamy’s legal battles to free Tirupati Temple and many temples in Kerala from Government’s control. It is a known fact that temple money is being diverted for other purposes."

Heaven grant him success!

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"Oct 20 – Swamy demands authentication of his tweets from Congress lawyer. Crossing of Swamy in NH case to begin on Nov 17 

"Giving a surprise to Congress lawyers, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy started his counter-arguments in the National Herald case tweeting controversy by demanding authentication of his more than 2000 tweets submitted by the accused leaders. “You have demanded authenticated or certified copy when I submitted the copy of Income Tax Orders against you. You people even demanded when I submitted the copy of Sonia’s Gandhi’s affidavit in Supreme Court served to me. That time you demanded me to comply with the provisions of Evidence Act. Now you must also adhere to those provisions of Evidence Act.

"“I don’t know you have committed perjury or changes in my 2000 tweets photocopy produced by you. So, you must also get authentication from Twitter,” said Swamy starting his counterarguments, seeking dismissal of the petition filed by accused Motilal Vora, seeking to restrain tweeting about National Herald case matters.

"This argument of Swamy has confused the Congress lawyers as there are no prescribed rules on how to authenticate a tweet. Swamy did not agree to Congress lawyers’ suggestions on proof on downloading. As Twitter is a US-based firm, the real authentication has to come from US Department of Justice, says legal experts, adding that this is still a grey area in Indian laws.

................................................................................................

"Putting an end to the criss-cross arguments, Additional Chief Magistrate Samar Vishal asked Swamy to continue his arguments on the merits of the petition filed by Congress leaders. “They assume, TDK and Buddhu, I meant is about Sonia and Rahul. I have no objection on that and let them assume whatever it is. I am making comments on social media and nothing to do with obstruction of justice in this case. Have I said against the honourable and learned Judge? Their arguments that I interfere in the administration of justice or sub judice and all are totally wrong,” said Swamy reiterating the dismissal of “frivolous” petition.

"The Congress lawyers also objected to Swamy’s mentioning in Twitter as “Congi Lawyers.” “What do you mean by Congi?” asked agitated lead lawyer R S Cheema. Ridiculing Congress lawyers, Swamy said he described them as Congi lawyers as they represent Congress (Indira) faction leaders. “It is my opinion.”

"“We have not called you Sanghi complainant. We are professionals. We don’t belong to a party,” said Cheema. “There are a lot of Congress factions. I, O, S, A. In short form these people are known as Congi and as you represent them, you are known as Congi lawyers,” Swamy retorted, reiterating Congi is a not a defamatory word. He also produced various judgments upholding freedom of expression, seeking dismissal of the petition of Congress leaders.

................................................................................................

"Putting an end to the heated exchanges, the Judge reserved for Orders on this regard on November 17. He also said that the crossing of Swamy by Congress lawyers in the main case will also start on November 17, as the earlier fixed day October 27 is a holiday.

"“You (Swamy) will enjoy when you are in the cross, you'll see the real Cheema that day,” said Advocate Cheema, while the Judge pronouncing the next day hearing."

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"Nov 12 – Government issues notice to Herald House to vacate by November 15. Congress leadership rushes to Court 

"Step-by-step, drip-by-drip, the long arm of the law has started catching up with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald fraud. The Urban Development Ministry issued notice to the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) to vacate Herald House in Delhi by November 15, citing violations in the allotment and illegal usage of the building. In the evening Congress leadership rushed to Delhi High Court and the case is posted for tomorrow (November 13)."

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"Covert acquisition by Shell companies 

"AJL had stopped publishing the newspaper National Herald and other two papers in Hindi and Urdu in 2008 and the public limited company is now covertly acquired in 2010 by a shell firm called Young Indian, floated by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with 76 percent share ownership. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in 2016, filed a complaint to Urban Development Ministry to take over the Herald House, citing the blatant violations and illegalities in the garb of journalism[97].

"From 2011, after the takeover of AJL by the shell firm floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Herald House was rented out to Passport Seva Kendra and the controllers of this prime property were getting Rs.80 lakhs per month.

................................................................................................

"The plea of AJL, challenging the Urban Development Ministry ending the lease and asking it to vacate the premises by November 15, is scheduled to come up for a hearing Tuesday before Justice Sunil Gaur.

"The plea alleged that the Land and Development Office's order was “illegal, unconstitutional, arbitrary, tainted with malafide and without authority and jurisdiction.”

................................................................................................

"The petition, filed through advocates Sunil Fernandes and Priyansha Indra Sharma, said that the Centre has warned them of action under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 if they failed to vacate the premises. One of the grounds mentioned in the L&DO order is that no press has been functioning in the premises for last at least 10 years and that it is being used only for commercial purposes in violation of the lease deed.

"After Subramanian Swamy’s case and after the bail of Sonia and Rahul in December 2015, the Congress leadership started a website of National Herald to fool the law. The Congress leadership also published once in a while some supplements of National Herald to maintain the Herald House, which is expected to be worth more than Rs.1000 crores. Some pliable journalists were also appointed to pretend as if there was newspaper activity."

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"Nov 20 – Court rejects Congress petition to restrain Subramanian Swamy from tweeting in NH case 

"The fast-track court handling National Herald case on Monday dismissed senior Congress leader Motilal Vora's plea seeking to restrain complainant Subramanian Swamy from tweeting about the case and “derogatory language”, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal rejected Vora's plea, also an accused in the case, saying there was nothing to show that the tweets caused any damage to the trial of the case or any prejudice to the court.

"It is interesting to note that Sonia and Rahul never filed a complaint against Swamy’s tweeting, though all the produced tweets by Vora were attacking mother and son. Vora, in his application, had alleged that Swamy was trying to influence the court proceedings with his tweets. He also accused Swamy of using derogatory language against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi often in the social media platform. The court said the tweets cited by Vora “cannot be said to interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice nor can be said to prejudice the due course of any judicial proceedings, firstly because no such instance due to which the applicant can say this has either been stated in the application, nor has been put forth in the argument.”

"It is interesting to note that Sonia and Rahul never filed a complaint against Swamy’s tweeting, though all the produced tweets by Vora were attacking mother and son. Vora, in his application, had alleged that Swamy was trying to influence the court proceedings with his tweets. He also accused Swamy of using derogatory language against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi often in the social media platform. The court said the tweets cited by Vora “cannot be said to interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice nor can be said to prejudice the due course of any judicial proceedings, firstly because no such instance due to which the applicant can say this has either been stated in the application, nor has been put forth in the argument.”

"“The trial is going on and has reached at the stage of evidence, and I am unable to find anything on record nor anything has been put forth to show that these tweets may have caused any damage to the trial or any prejudice to the court,” the judge said. It said “a court cannot prohibit any person from reporting the proceedings of a case unless it is shown that the reporting is patently and malafidely false.

"“The tweets may not be happily worded from the point of view of the applicant or other accused, but how they interfere in the administration of justice or are prejudicial to the defence of the accused is not clear,” the court said, posting cross-examination of Swamy in the main case to January 11.

................................................................................................

"Earlier in his arguments, Swamy said that apart from the principles of freedom of speech, the tweets (more than 2000) produced by Congress lawyers must be certified. He said the lawyers demanded certification when he produced Income Tax documents and company records of Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited. Congress lawyers also accused Swamy of abusing them on Twitter by calling them “Congi lawyers”[98]. During their arguments, Congress lawyers said that Swamy often used to call Sonia Gandhi as TDK, which means the devil Tadaka of Ramayan. Interestingly the lawyers never raised Swamy’s tweets calling Rahul Gandhi as Buddhu.

"Reacting to the Court order, Swamy thanked his lawyers Ishkaran Bhandari, Dilip Kumar, Ramni Taneja and his advocate wife Roxna Swamy. He said that after the starting of his cross-examination from January 11, he would demand for a daily hearing in the National Herald case from February."

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"Dec 03 – ED attaches illegally allotted posh property to NH in Panchkula 

"Trouble is brewing for the Gandhis in the National Herald case. Weeks after the acquisition notice of its headquarters Herald House in Delhi, by the Union Urban Development Ministry (UDM), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached its swanky office in Panchkula, illegally allotted by Haryana Government under the Congress regime. The central probe agency said that it issued a provisional order of attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on December 1, the day the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others for allegedly using fraudulent means to allot the land to Associate Journals Limited (AJL).

"“Since the value of plot fraudulently allotted to AJL has represented proceeds of crime, the ED has attached the plot under PMLA Act,” the agency said in a statement. The plot has been attached under Section 5 of the PMLA (attachment of property involved in money laundering) and further investigation is in process, it said.

................................................................................................

"Reacting to the development main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy congratulated ED and said that he would pursue with Maharashtra Government on the illegal allotment of land in Bandra to National Herald publisher Associated Journals Limited. The State Government had already formed a committee to probe into the irregularities. Finding a series of frauds in the land allotment and usage, the Committee recommended the takeover by the state government and initiating action against the AJL.

"The ED said Hooda, as the then CM, “misused his official position by dishonestly and fraudulently allotting the said plot to AJL afresh in the guise of re-allotment at the rates prevalent in 1982 (Rs 91 per sqm) plus interest despite the fact that the cancellation of allotment of the plot had earlier attained finality and it could not legally be re-allotted.” It added that the re-allotment of the plot in 2005 “unjustly benefitted” AJL.

................................................................................................

"The agency said its probe found that Hooda “granted undue extensions thrice to AJL for construction of the said plot and after acquisition of the said plot projected it as untainted property and further acquired loans from the bank by way of mortgaging the same from tie to time.” The CBI chargesheet, filed in a Panchkula court on December 1, named Congress leader Motilal Vora besides Hooda in connection with the alleged irregularities in the re-allotment of the plot.

"Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court previous week reserved for orders in the petition filed by AJL against the eviction notice issued by the Union Urban Development Ministry. In the main case, the trial court has scheduled the case to January 11 and cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by accused Congress leaders will start on that day."

................................................................................................

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"Dec 21 – Delhi HC orders AJL to vacate Herald House within two weeks. Observes violations in Sonia & Rahul firms takeover 

"In a huge setback to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the eviction of Herald House, the headquarters of National Herald newspaper within two weeks, dismissing the petition filed by the publisher Associated Journals Limited(AJL).  Finding no irregularity in the Urban Development Ministry’s Land and Development Office (L & DO) notice, the judgment said that there was total violation in the lease agreement by the publisher who was holding the building for the past 56 years and also said that the AJL’s takeover by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi floated new firm Young Indian was also “questionable” “modus operandi.”

"“The ‘subject premises’ was leased out to legendary AJL for its publication, but the dominant purpose is now practically lost. This Court is constrained to observe that major portion of the ‘subject premises’ has been rented out and petitioners’ newspaper, which was to be housed originally in the basement and ground floor, has now been shifted on the top floor with hardly any ‘press activity,” said the 17-page judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur.

................................................................................................

"“This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi to acquire 99% of AJL’s share speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable,” said the judgment. At present AJL, which is literally owned by Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian is earning around Rs.80 lakhs per month from 2011 by renting out two floors to Passport Seva Kendra.

"Observing that there was no wrong in eviction notice, the judgment also said that petitioner’s contention that the Government move was to erase, efface and defame the legacy of Pandit Nehru was not at all acceptable. “One fails to understand as to how the ruling dispensation has in any way erased, effaced, or defamed Pt. Nehru… the allegations of malafide leveled by petitioners are bald and unspecific and so, no note of these allegations taken,” said the judgment."

................................................................................................

"The AJL approached the High Court after the L & DO issued eviction notice on October 30, based on the complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy, BJP leader and petitioner in the main case. AJ was represented by Congress leader and noted lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and Government was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The court had reserved its decision on AJL's plea on November 22.

"The High Court said AJL will have to vacate the premises at ITO here within two weeks after which proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 would be initiated.

"The L&DO had ended the lease -- entered into with AJL on August 2, 1962 and made perpetual on January 10, 1967 -- asking the company to hand over the possession by November 15. The L&DO's order had also said that failure to hand over possession would lead to initiation of proceedings under the Public Premises Act.

................................................................................................

"In its plea, AJL has also said that the digital versions of English newspaper National Herald, Hindi's Navjivan and Urdu's Qaumi Awaz have commenced since 2016-17. The weekly newspaper 'National Herald on Sunday' resumed on September 24 last year and the place of publication was the ITO premises, AJL had said, adding that the Hindi weekly newspaper Sunday Navjivan was also being published since October this year from the same premises.

"Later in the evening, welcoming the judgment, the Urban Development Ministry said that, “It was found by the inspecting team of the Ministry on April 09, 2018 that no printing press was functioning at any floor of the premises and no paper stock was found anywhere.”

"“In earlier inspections also, the basement where Press machine should have been, was found vacant.  Further, it was also found that almost all shares of AJL were transferred to ‘Young Indian Ltd’ having same address as that of AJL without any permission of the Ministry.  As per a report of the Income Tax Department, in Young Indian Ltd., the majority of shares (76%) are held by the Gandhi family and the rest by Shri Motilal Vora and Shri Oscar Fernandes. It was also observed that instead of using the land given to AJL for Press purpose, they are earning a huge sum of money by renting out almost entire building except one floor which has negated the purpose for which the land was originally allotted,” said the Ministry in a statement."

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"Jan 05 – A covert operation in CBDT to save Sonia and Rahul from Income Tax case in NH collapses 

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s timely intervention on a prompt alert by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy collapsed the Congress leadership’s attempts to issue a dubious Circular by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to save them from the tax default case in National Herald. Shockingly, on December 31, 2018, CBDT issued a dubious Circular diluting the tax burden on the fresh issue of shares.

"This was a cunning attempt engineered by the former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who is now the lead lawyer of Sonia Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi and with National Herald facing more than Rs.400 crores tax evasion case in the National Herald case. Congress leaders lost the case against Income Tax in all forums and now their last appeal is pending in the Supreme Court, where the case is scheduled on January 8. This dubious circular by CBDT was issued by a clever act by Congress leaders led by Chidambaram to save their High Command. The CBDT was forced to issue this order by Finance Ministry headed by Arun Jaitley. The idea was to show this circular to the Supreme Court in the next hearing to save Sonia and Rahul from tax default. The content of the circular is the same as what Chidambaram and a battery of Congress lawyers were arguing in the Supreme Court.

"But this collapsed after many honest Income Tax officials alerted BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who is the main petitioner in the National Herald case. Swamy alerted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS leadership about this fraud orchestrated in the Finance Ministry under Jaitley to save Sonia and Rahul from tax evasion case. According to highly placed officials, Modi ordered the cancelation of this dubious CBDT Circular on January 3 and the Order was withdrawn by CBDT on January 4 in the evening[99].

................................................................................................

"Many senior Income Tax officers say this dubious move originated from the Finance Ministry in the garb of giving some relief to the new investors from Angel Tax. Chidambaram-friendly officers were behind this move, they say.

"Hearing Modi’s direction on withdrawal of the dubious CBDT Order next came the Congress’ DRAMA! After the withdrawal of the Order, on January 4 evening, Congress conducted a Press Conference at AICC Head Quarters by Vivek Tankha MP and Ahmed Patel congratulating CBDT for issuing a new order on December 31, which was canceled few hours ago. Congress leaders said they are welcoming the CBDT Order! And declared that this circular vindicates their stand in the National Herald case! Congress was planning to quietly submit the CBDT Circular of December 31 in the Supreme Court on January 8 to get relief for Sonia and Rahul[100]. But the plan collapsed due to Prime Minister’s intervention and the Circular was canceled on January 4. So, a drama was created by calling a press conference thanking CBDT on January 4, for December 31 Circular, which was canceled hours before the Press Conference!

"And next day Congress leaders started crying that the Order was withdrawn by “vendetta” filled Modi. Blaming Jaitley headed Finance Ministry, the BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said that the Government should probe who all played the dirty games in issuing this dubious circular to save Sonia and Rahul from the tax evasion in National Herald case.

................................................................................................

"This is not the first time the Finance Ministry under Arun Jaitley has done double-dealings in the National Herald case. In mid-2014, weeks after the trial court summoned the Congress leaders, the Enforcement Directorate issued a dubious circular to its officers asking them not to register any money laundering cases based on the summons issued by courts. The illegal order also said that the officers should wait for the Supreme Court’s decisions and not to initiate actions. The circular was withdrawn after Subramanian Swamy filed complaints to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS leaders, blaming Arun Jaitley for covert operations.

"One must remember Arun Jaitley’s controversial interview with Barkha Dutt in 2015. In his interview, Jaitley said if National Herald’s publisher Associated Journal Limited (AJL) pays back Rs.90 crores to Congress party, the case will end! Now Income Tax found that the so-called loan of Rs.90 crores was just a hoax and this fake loan claim was nothing but a clever ploy by Sonia and Rahul to covertly take over the Rs.5000 crores worth land assets across in India by AJL."

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................................................................................................

"Jan 14 – Swamy urges PM to order a probe on who is behind the dubious CBDT Circular to save Sonia & Rahul from NH case 

"Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a probe on the issuing of a dubious Circular by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on December 31, 2018 to save Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from the Income Tax implications in the National Herald case. In a letter, appreciating Modi for the prompt action of the withdrawal of the circular on January 4, Swamy said there should be a probe to find out who asked the Under Secretary in Ministry of Finance to issue this dubious circular to save the Gandhis from tax probes.

"“You have given importance to this National Herald case by announcing in the public several times that Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and four others are presently out on bail and therefore lacked morality to speak about corruption. This is a well-taken point, and I congratulate you for bringing the matter before the general public,” said Swamy pointing out that the dubious CBDT circular was issued to demolish his case as well as the Income Tax’s case.

"He said that this Circular was issued by “traitors” with the help of pliable officials to save Gandhis from the crime of forming Young Indian and take over the 99.9% shares of the National Herald publishing firm Associated Journals Limited in an illegal way.

................................................................................................

"“This is an extraordinary, unprecedented event, that a Circular (dealing with such an extraordinarily important matter impinging on the fight against corruption) should be issued to casually and withdrawn within a matter of 24 hours. It means that the original Circular dated December 31, 2018, and made public on January 3, 2019, was either an act of gross stupidity and incompetence (which is not likely), or probably that it was a command performance by the Finance Ministry Under-Secretary who signed the Circular. The mere fact that in 24 hours, the Circular was withdrawn shows the great concern felt by the Government about the damage likely to be caused by this and hence the Government wasted no time to withdraw the Circular. But it is important to know the Circulars are prepared through a process in which many participate,” said Swamy, seeking an Inquiry Committee under Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in PMO.

"“Obviously the first Circular was to help Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other four accused to escape from the National Herald case. What was the quid pro quo for this action of the Ministry of Finance officer? The signing officer should be interrogated on who advised him/ her to sign this Circular,” demanded Swamy, main petitioner in the National Herald case."

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"Feb 05 – Cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer begins on a low key 

"The much-awaited cross-examination of petitioner BJP leader Subramanian Swamy by accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s advocates turned out to be a damp squib on Monday. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were represented by veteran lawyer R S Cheema who spent close to two hours on the first day of crossing on February 4, concentrated on a trivial issue whether Swamy said the closure of National Herald newspaper was a permanent one or not. He also kept asking Swamy on whether the closure in 2008 was meant to acquire the properties of the publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL) by Sonia and Rahul.

"Many expected the cross-examination of Swamy to be a fiery exchange of questions and answers, but it turned out to be a low-key affair as veteran lawyer Cheema kept to low profile questions. Being an expert in law, Swamy also kept his cool by giving matter-of-fact replies without elaborating or provoking the accused Congress leader’s lawyer. The case was posted to next date for continuation of crossing on February 23. All the seven accused persons’ lawyers will cross Swamy, who sought for day-to-day hearings from February 23 onwards, which is the Congress leaders may not want.

"While the lawyer reiterated on how Swamy affirmed that National Herald newspaper was shut down permanently, Swamy replied that he relied on ‘The Pioneer’ newspaper’s report by J Gopikrishnan, who relied on Rahul Gandhi’s email to him that there was no intention to re-launch the National Herald newspaper.

................................................................................................

"Congress lawyers were vehemently objecting to the submission of Rahul Gandhi’s email to journalist J Gopikrishnan while Swamy’s was reiterating this as proof during his evidence providing.

"The fact is that till date, National Herald is not yet re-launched as a daily newspaper. Only after the High Court and Supreme Court directed Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to appear before the trial court did the Congress leaders launch an online edition in late 2016. In late 2017, they occasionally published a weekly paper.

"During his cross, Swamy also brought out the Urban Development Ministry’s finding that there is no media activity and printing, leading to the eviction of AJL and Young Indian from the Herald House. Sensing danger, the Congress lawyer did not ask any further questions. The Congress lawyers did not ponder much on the Income Tax findings, though Swamy tried to bring the matter during his replies.

"Legal experts say Congress leaders wanted to stretch the crossing of Swamy and are expected to object to Swamy’s demand for daily crossing. The entire transcripts of crossing of Subramanian Swamy are available at Bar & Bench website[101]."

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"Feb 28 – Delhi HC slams Sonia & Rahul of a clandestine operation to float YIL. Orders immediate eviction of Herald House 

"In a big slap to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Delhi High Court on Thursday observed that their company Young Indian acquired National Herald newspaper’s publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and its huge assets in a clandestine operation. Ratifying the Single Bench’s order, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao ordered the immediate eviction of Herald House, the headquarters of AJL.

"The 63-page judgment detailed the various illegalities, ratifying the December 2018 judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur ordering the eviction of Herald House by the Urban Development Ministry (UDM). The Division Bench took note of the fact that AJL has been taken over by Young Indian Company for all practical purposes. It said: “This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi was to acquire 99% of AJL's shares speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable.”

"The scathing observation by the Division Bench totally vindicates the first criminal case filed BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. AJL was represented by Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and the UDM by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. In the judgment, the Court observed that on many occasions, AJL did not answered properly and tried to hide the facts. Upholding the single bench view that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young Indian was nothing but a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of the lucrative interest in the premises to Young India, the bench observed

"“The judgment observed that with just Rs.50 lakhs, Sonia and Rahul controlled the Young Indian became the owners of more than Rs.400 crores worth owners of Herald House.”

................................................................................................

"“Even though Dr. Singhvi had argued that there is nothing wrong in such a transaction and it is legally permissible, but if we take note of the principles and the doctrine for which the theory of lifting of the corporate veil has received legal recognition, we have no hesitation in holding that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young Indian was nothing but, as held by the learned writ Court, a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of the lucrative interest in the premises to Young India. In fact, the contention of Dr. Singhvi has to be rejected and rightly so was rejected by the Single Judge even though without applying the principle of lifting of the corporate veil. In case the theory of lifting of the corporate veil, as discussed hereinabove, is applied and the transaction viewed by analyzing as to what was the purpose for such a transaction, the so called innocent or legal and permissible transaction as canvassed before us, in our considered view, is not so simple or straight forward as put before us, but it only indicates the dishonest and fraudulent design behind such a transaction as laid down in various judgments.”

"Now as a last resort, Congress lawyers will rush to Supreme Court against the Delhi HC’s Division Bench judgment. Already, the final appeal against the Income Tax Order exposing the Rs.413 crores asset-grabbing by Sonia and Rahul is before the Supreme Court. In the main case, the cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by Congress lawyers are to resume on March 30."

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"Mar 12 – Exposed in the Herald House frauds, Congress leaders-led AJL appeals to SC, accuses-BJP of pathological animus to Nehru Swamy vindicated 

"Having lost in the lower courts, the defunct National Herald newspaper publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL) approached the Supreme Court against the eviction from its headquarters Herald House, accusing the ruling party BJP of having a “pathological animus” towards the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. AJL, which is owned by the top Congress leadership was slammed by the Delhi High Court on February 28 and ordered to leave the Herald House. AJL is now facing the Urban Development Ministry’s final notice on March 1 of eviction from the premises for serious frauds and violations committed in the garb of advantages given to media firms.

"“This court may be pleased to take judicial notice that the principal political party of the incumbent ruling coalition dispensation at the Centre viz the BJP (in its present form since 1980 and in its earlier avatar - the Bharatiya Jana Sangh since 1951) harbours a pathological animus to the ideas of Indian's first Prime Minister - Pandit Nehru, whom they incessantly and viciously accuse of creation of a secular democratic republic where people of all faiths have equal protection and equal access under the Constitution,” the plea filed by AJL in the apex court said."

The last bit, from "Nehru ... " onwards to " ... Constitution", makes no sense. One does not "viciously accuse" someone of "equal protection and equal access" - unless we are referring to victims and criminals of horrendous crimes. 

The fact is, those who filed that plea did not wish to actually quote the accusations by BJP et al, so they substituted their own laudatory lies, instead. 

................................................................................................

"Terming the eviction proceedings before the single-judge bench and double-judge bench in High Court as biased and malafide, the AJL in its appeal said that its publication espouses the ideology of the Congress party, which is presently the largest opposition party in the country.

"“The eviction proceedings have been initiated for the purposes of scuttling the voice of democratic dissent of the Congress Party. It is a clear affront to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and a deliberate attempt to suppress and destroy the legacy of the first Prime Minister of the country i. e. Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the guiding light for the publications of the petitioner-company,” it said.

"The Division Bench of High Court, comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao outlined all frauds committed by the Sonia Gandhi-and-Rahul Gandhi-controlled firm Young Indian for dubiously acquiring AJL and controlling its huge land assets across the country worth more than Rs.5000 crores. The 63-page judgment detailed the various illegalities, ratifying the December 2018 judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur ordering the eviction of Herald House by the Urban Development Ministry. The Division Bench took note of the fact that AJL has been taken over by Young Indian Company for all practical purposes. It said: “This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi was to acquire 99% of AJL’s shares speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable.”"

................................................................................................

"Swamy vindicated 

"The scathing observation by the Division Bench totally vindicates the first criminal case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. AJL was represented by Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and the Urban Development Ministry by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. In the judgment, the Court observed that on many occasions, AJL did not answer properly and tried to hide the facts. Upholding the single bench view that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young Indian was nothing but a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of the lucrative interest in the premises to Young India, the bench observed that with just Rs.50 lakhs, Sonia and Rahul controlled the Young Indian became the owners of more than Rs.400 crores worth owners of Herald House[102].

"This is the last chance for AJL to object to the eviction from Herald House. Already, the final appeal against the Income Tax Order exposing the Rs.413 crores fine for asset-grabbing by Sonia and Rahul is before the Supreme Court. In the main case, the cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by Congress lawyers is set to resume on March 30."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"May 29 – ED attaches Rs.64 crores-worth Panchkula office of NH for money laundering 

"In a major crackdown in the National Herald (NH) case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken possession of the Rs.64 crores-worth building and property in Panchkula, allotted to the newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The Adjudicating Authority under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Wednesday confirmed ED’s move to attach Panchkula property in December 2018. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED have registered charge sheets against then Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and officials for illegally allotting the land in 2005.

"Congress leader Motilal Vora is the Managing Director of the Public Limited Company AJL. Other Directors are Congress leaders Oscar Fernadez and Sonia Gandhi family’s associates Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey. In 2011, this 80-year-old public limited company was covertly taken over by a private company named Young Indian, owned by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Both have 38 percent shares each in this newly floated firm with no assets. Through a dubious way, Young Indian took over 99.9% shares of the AJL, which has more than Rs.2000 crores worth land assets across India, spanning from Delhi, Panchkula, Lucknow, Mumbai etc.  The bizarre fraud was exposed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in November 2012. Currently, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders are out on bail in the criminal case filed by Subramanian Swamy.

"In mid-2014, Swamy filed cases to Income Tax, ED, CBI and state governments of Haryana, Maharashtra to probe into the land allotment frauds, tax frauds in the National Herald case. Income Tax has imposed a heavy fine of Rs.414 crores on Young Indian, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and currently the case is pending before Supreme Court after the appeal is filed by the accused[103].

................................................................................................

".”..Since the value of plot (in Panchkula) fraudulently allotted to AJL has represented proceeds of crime, the ED has attached plot under the PMLA act,” the ED had said in a statement. Now, the ED said Wednesday, that the Adjudicating Authority of PMLA “has held that defendants have committed the schedule offence, generated proceeds of crime and further found that the properties attached are proceeds of crime beyond any doubt and thereby ordered for confirmation of the provisional attachments order.”

"With this approval, the ED is empowered to take possession of the land and erect its authority signage over the plot that disallows any trespass or activity by anybody over the asset. However, the plot can be finally transferred to the government exchequer once the trial in the case concludes in favour of the agency, officials said.

"National Heralds’ headquarters in Delhi – Herald House – is already facing eviction and takeover notice from the Ministry of Urban Development. The case is currently pending in Supreme Court on the appeal filed by the accused. Maharashtra Government has formed a committee headed by officials to look into the illegality of land allotment in Bandra. This prime land was illegally given to some real estate lobby and the Committee found lot of violations in 2016[104]. However, the Maharashtra Government has not taken further action on this blatant violation and illegalities in Bandra land allotments."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Nov 13 – Dr. Swamy, the unstoppable force 

"It is a known fact that Dr. Swamy was not supported by the present Government in his fight against Corruption and the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

"Even in court proceedings, Dr. Swamy had no backing. In fact, bottlenecks were created within by a few elements to protect and safeguard the past regime's corrupt officials. Many a time, the Government appointed lawyer would fail to show up!

"The 2G case and its judgment during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) period in the public domain; the Govt officers failed to perform their duties of presenting a watertight case. A few of the Govt. officers had connections with 2G scam accused and a deep-rooted conspiracy to weaken the prosecution prevailed.

................................................................................................

"Dr. Swamy singlehandedly fought UPA's corruption charges in the 2G case prior to 2014 and got a favourable judgment from the Supreme Court in which the spectrum licenses got canceled. The same trend did not reflect in the 2G case judgment during the NDA period. The case collapsed in the Special Court with all accused being acquitted and an adverse comment by the Honourable Judge on the prosecution's role in presenting evidence during the trial. Now the matter is on appeal in the High Court and it is hoped that justice will be delivered this time.

"Ex FM P Chidambaram's investigation on multiple corruption cases was internally sabotaged during the 2014 - 2019 period. Crucial information from Govt agencies was leaked to the accused to counter moves. In this matter, Dr. Swamy was determined to take on the Ex-FM P Chidambaram all alone and submitted new crucial evidence of Karti Chidambaram's Foreign bank accounts, Foreign Properties, Foreign investments, details of corruption, etc. Only after the general election of 2019, has the case moved positively and now an indisputable case is framed against the accused.

................................................................................................

"When you review the National Herald case which Dr. Swamy filed prior to 2014, he didn't have any backing from BJP led NDA after it came to power. It was like a One-Man Army taking on the mighty Gandhi Family and their squad which was the ruling party then. The case is based on documentary evidence which presented their wrongdoings, and the outcome is likely by the first half of the next year.

"Even in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, Dr. Swamy faced difficulties due to opposition from within the Govt. They systematically opposed Dr. Swamy's role for its early hearing in the case. They wanted him out and ignored his valid plea on faith & fundamental right to pray. Misguided Govt affidavit was submitted during the proceedings. In fact, Govt had no role in the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

"Eventually, Dr. Swamy's hard work paid off with the Supreme Court listing hearing and the final judgment, in favor of the Hindus.

"Dr. Swamy's role in the fight against Corruption and the Ram Janmabhoomi case should be appreciated and lauded. He is a true Corruption Crusader and Hindu Hriday Samrat."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Nov 16 – Income Tax Tribunal exposes the frauds and dubious activities of Sonia & Rahul in acquiring properties of NH   

"The doors are closing step-by-step for Congress President Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. The Appellate Tribunal’s Order dated November 15, ratifying the Income Tax Order of canceling Charitable activities exemption certificate reiterates the fact that mother and son controlled firm Young Indian committed a series of blatant frauds in grabbing the assets of the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL).

"After canceling the tax exemption certificate Income Tax has fined Young Indian Rs.249 crores, finding that the shell firm has a taxable income of Rs.414 crores1. The Income Tax Department also ordered a re-assessment of the incomes of Sonia and Rahul and they lost the case in Delhi High Court2. Now the case is pending in the Supreme Court and is listed for November 29.

"The Appellate Tribunal’s 175-page Order (the link is given in Appendix 6) reiterates the frauds committed to dubiously acquiring thousands of crores worth assets of the National Herald publishing company in Delhi, Panchkula, Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow, and other metro cities. The Tribunal’s Order also lays bare the lies floated by the Congress leaders. In many areas of the Order, the Tribunal headed by Amit Shukla and Prashant Maharishi lists in detail the frauds and lies of the Congress leaders."

................................................................................................

"Scam exposed by Swamy 

"When the National Herald scam was exposed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the Congress leaders claimed that they took Rs.90 crores loan from Congress party to save party’s debt-ridden newspaper. The Tax authorities probe exposes that there was no such loan and that this fake loan claim was a cock & bull story to dubiously take over thousands of crores worth assets of National herald, spread across many cities.

"The Tribunal Order also reveals the fact that in the garb of journalism, the National Herald’s covert operation after the takeover by Sonia and Rahul was just to acquire the huge land assets. The Order also shows that a one-crore-loan later claimed as a donation from a Kolkata based shell firm Dotex was nothing but money laundering.  In a nutshell, the Tribunal Order says that using the fake loan or donation of Rs.50 lakhs, Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian covertly acquired thousands of crores-worth assets of National Herald publishing firm AJL."

................................................................................................

"NH Digital operation a sham

"The Order also says that the digital operation of the National Herald was nothing but a sham to avoid cases and just to show that they are engaged in media newspaper activity. Government has already issued orders to vacate the Herald House and Delhi High Court has already ratified it. Now the Congress leaders appeal is pending before Supreme Court and expected to be listed on November 25.

"In the main criminal case filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy that is now in the cross-examination stage, the Congress leaders are, for the past one year, engaged in crossing the petitioner. The next date for crossing is scheduled on November 29 and 30 and Swamy has already urged day-to-day hearing in the case and the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, heading the special fast track court of MPs and MLAs said that he would consider starting day-to-day hearing from January 2020."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"Apr 07 – Sonia must surrender more than Rs.5000 crores-worth assets of NH grabbed by her 

"Congress President Sonia Gandhi has come out with an obnoxious demand of a complete ban of Central Government’s advertisements in all media including Print, Television, and Online platforms for two years in the wake of the Corona crisis. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she urged this as the first demand saying that by this ban on advertisements Central Government can save Rs.1250 crores per year. That works out to Rs.2500 crores in two years.

................................................................................................

"While making this atrocious demand, we must remember that Sonia Gandhi has captured the Congress party’s newspaper – ‘National Herald’ and is holding more than Rs.5000 crores-worth land and building assets across the country including in plush locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Panchkula, and Indore. National Herald newspaper was started in 1938 by Congress leaders under a public limited company – Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) - and after India’s independence, many Governments allotted huge benefits including lands across the country. Sonia Gandhi was interested only in the newspaper’s huge land assets and closed down the newspaper publishing in 2008. By the end of 2010, she dubiously formed a private company (76% of shares owned by Sonia and son Rahul) named as Young Indian and grabbed 99.3% shares of AJL.

................................................................................................

"Now she is facing criminal charges in the National Herald grabbing case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Income Tax charges for tax evasion as well. The Government has also ordered the eviction of its headquarters (Herald House) in Delhi worth around Rs.1000 crores. The Income Tax case and eviction case is now pending before the Supreme Court after Sonia Gandhi lost the cases in all lower courts. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have also filed cases against Congress leaders in the Panchkula land grabbing case.

"If Sonia Gandhi is so concerned about India’s financial position, she must surrender all the lands worth more than Rs.5000 crores belonging to the erstwhile newspaper National Herald company to the Government of India."

................................................................................................

"NBA deplores Congress letter 

"The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Tuesday “strongly deplored” Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s suggestion of complete ban of Central Government advertisement in all sorts of media including print, television and online for two years to tackle the financial crisis due to Corona crisis. In a statement, the NBA President Rajat Sharma said that Sonia’s statement was demoralising and asked for the withdrawal of the statement.

"“At a time when media personnel without fearing for their lives are doing their national duty by disseminating news on the pandemic, a statement like this from the Congress is highly demoralising. NBA calls upon Congress President Sonia Gandhi to withdraw her suggestions made to Prime Minister on a complete ban on media advertisements for two years in the interest of a healthy and free media,” said Sharma."

................................................................................................

"Practice what you preach 

"Why is Sonia Gandhi not asking the Congress-ruled states to stop their advertisement in media? Her cunning idea is to limit the publication of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo published in the Central Government advertisements. Some media-friendly Congress leaders accuse former Minister Jairam Ramesh of giving this “brilliant(!) idea” of scrapping Central Government advertisements. It is an open secret that penning erudite prose is beyond the capabilities of the Sonia/ RaGa/ PriVa trio. So, it must have been written by someone and just signed by Sonia.

"Her other four demands were the suspension of construction of the Rs.20,000 crores-worth Central Vista Project, ban on Modi and other Minister’s foreign visits, 30% cut in Government expenses and transfer PM-CARES funds to PMNRF. These demands expose her hatred towards Modi. Why she wants Modi to not travel abroad is a mystery. These things expose the pettiness of and the cunning nature of Sonia Gandhi.

"Let me reiterate - Sonia must surrender the more than Rs.5000 crores-worth assets of erstwhile National Herald newspaper grabbed by her instead of calling for a complete ban on Central Government’s advertisements in media for two years. If Sonia is so concerned about India, she should pay back the Rs.414 crores illegal gain (findings of Income Tax in 2018) from grabbing the assets of the National Herald newspaper[105]. The Italian born Sonia, the land where the word fascism originated has shown her true colors."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"May 09 – ED attaches 11-floor building in Bandra East, Mumbai for money laundering 

"In a big slap to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday attached the defunct National Herald newspaper company Associated Journal Limited (AJL)’s 11-floor building in Bandra East in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). AJL’s 99.3 percent shares are controlled by the dubious firm Young Indian, where Sonia and Rahul own 76 percent of the shares. Congress leadership bagged this prime property in 1983 in Bandra East for office and printing of National Herald’s Mumbai edition. By mid-2000, Congress leaders engaged in deals with real estate firms and managed to get an approval to build 9 floors and two basement floors.

"Though the book value of the property is recorded at around Rs.17 crores, the market value is expected to be above Rs.500 crores. After filing a case against Sonia & Rahul in the trial court, petitioner and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy filed complaints to many agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the ED, the Urban Development Ministry, Income Tax and many State Governments against the massive properties of National Herald publishing company AJL, which is covertly grabbed by Sonia and Rahul controlled Young Indian.

................................................................................................

"The Haryana Government has transferred the probe to the CBI on Panchkula property saying that this is a massive fraud involving many states. The CBI has registered a case against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and the AJL Managing Director and the then Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora and ED attached the plush property in Panchkula. Bandra property attachment is the second attachment in the National Herald case. Maharashtra Government’s probe had proved many illegalities in the Bandra East land and involvement of Congress leaders in covertly handing over the newspaper company’s property to real estate sharks[106].

"The ED found that Panchkula property was valued at Rs.120 crores and AJL took a loan from Syndicate Bank’s Delhi ITO Branch to build 11 floors in Bandra East property by top Congress leadership, who are the loyalists of Sonia Gandhi family. Income Tax has already charged Sonia and Rahul of tax evasion of more Rs. 414 crores and the case are presently pending in the Supreme Court. The National Herald’s headquarters in Delhi – Herald House – is already facing eviction from Urban Development Ministry and the case is currently pending on appeal by Congress leadership in Supreme Court.

"The main case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in the trial court against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, and other Congress leaders is in the cross-examination phase."

................................................................................................
................................................................................................

"Jun 26 – Government must take back the land and building illegally used by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation: Subramanian Swamy 

"BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to direct the Urban Development Ministry to take back the land allotted to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation at the heart of New Delhi. In his letter to the Prime Minister, Swamy pointed out that in 2015 he filed a petition to the Ministry citing the illegalities of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation using the prime property which was actually allotted to Congress party in 1988.

"“Much information has come in the public domain about the fraud of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. I had written a letter to the Ministry of Urban Ministry several years ago, pointing out that RGF building was built on the plot on the Raisina Road that was granted by the Ministry of Urban Development for building the Congress party office. But instead, the building has been usurped by RGF. I strongly recommend Government taking back the plot and nationalisng the building,” said Swamy in his letter to Modi."

Author gives the relevant tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy here, in a photographic format. 

................................................................................................

"How did Sonia Gandhi grab the plot allotted for Congress party headquarters? 

"In 1988, a year prior to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s centenary year (1989), Government (then ruled by Rajiv Gandhi) allotted a prime plot to the Congress party to build a big headquarters named Jawahar Bhawan. Across India, Congress workers collected more than Rs.500 crores for the construction of their headquarters. Many Corporates also donated money and it was known to all that the building was actually constructed by the late Dhirubhai Ambani. There were two sources of income– Congress workers collected money across the country and the Corporates pitched in too. Meanwhile, after the 30th day of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, June 21, 1991, Sonia Gandhi started the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and slowly usurped the building meant for Congress party’s headquarters. This is a clear violation. The land was allotted for Congress party’s headquarters and now using as Sonia family’s private foundation.

................................................................................................

"The irony is that the Congress headquarters is still working at the old building at 24, Akbar Road, neighboring Sonia Gandhis’ home at 10, Janpath Road. In 2009, Congress party and all political parties were given land at Deen Dayal Upadhayay Marg area. The Congress party is yet to construct its headquarters, while even cashless Communist parties made their offices in the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg area.

"After filing a complaint against the illegal use of Herald House in the National Herald case, Subramanian Swamy in 2015 filed a petition to Urban Development Ministry for taking back the land illegally used by Sonia Gandhi family-controlled Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Swamy also demanded a probe of RGF operating in tax haven Seychelles too."

................................................................................................
................................................................................................

"Dec 05 –Swamy demands summoning of Income Tax documents and crucial witnesses. Sonia-Rahul lawyers cite COVID, seeking more time to cross Swamy 

"Trying to speed up the procedures in the National Herald case trial, petitioner BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday approached trial court for summoning crucial Income Tax orders, Income Tax officials, Land Development Department’s order for evicting Herald House and its officials, and other witnesses. Swamy also demanded summoning of former Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi who issued a statement on behalf of Congress saying on November 2, 2012, about Congress giving Rs.90 crores loan to National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited and ‘The Pioneer’ newspaper journalist J Gopikrishnan who reported his email communications with Rahul Gandhi on the relaunch of National Herald newspaper.

"On December 5 (Saturday) the case was scheduled for resuming cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by the accused. But the advocates of the accused Congress leaders were not ready, citing their inability to present in Court due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last cross-examination was in March 2020 and for the past more than two years the main accused Sonia Gandhi’s lawyers have been examining Swamy. The BJP leader has already demanded the Court for day-to-day hearing in the case and the next hearing is scheduled on December 23.

................................................................................................

"In his application for summoning documents and witnesses, Swamy also sought summoning of Secretary-General (Registry Officer) Supreme Court Sanjeev S Kalgaonar, Deputy Land and Development Officer Rajnish Kumar Jha, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (Circle-1) Saket Singh. For the past three years, after Swamy produced the photocopy of Income Tax orders exposing the huge tax violation of more than Rs.414 crores by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi-headed firms, the accused persons were challenging the authenticity photocopy of the Order. Swamy countered that these documents were relied on by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the High Court and Supreme Court in their petitions against the Supreme Court. PGurus already published the 105-page Order of Income Tax department on the Rs. 414 crore tax evasion by Gandhi family using National Herald newspaper.

"“This case is a quintessential case of documentary evidence. Due to the fact that there are many documents that have been annexed to the Chief Examination of the Complainant, which are public documents, which have been marked; these are certified copies of these public documents,” the application of Swamy said.

"“Due to the fact that these are marked documents, these documents need to be proved through the testimony of the appropriate witnesses. It is reiterated that as the complainant’s case is a quintessential case of the evidence being documentary evidence, therefore these documents need to be proved through their witnesses,” it said.

................................................................................................

"Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta on December 5 adjourned the matter for December 23 as the lawyers from the accused side did not appear physically and sought an adjournment. 

"Earlier, several times, the accused Congress leaders were objecting to the submission of documents and witnesses. Apart from Subramanian Swamy’s case in the trial court, Congress leaders are facing two cases in the Supreme Court. One is the Income Tax charges of Rs.414 crores-tax-evasion and the other is eviction from the Herald House, the headquarters of the defunct National Herald newspaper. Congress leaders lost these two cases in Delhi High Court in 2018 and their appeal is pending before the Supreme Court. The Enforcement Directorate has already attached two big plush buildings of the National Herald in Panchkula and Bandra in Mumbai."

................................................................................................
................................................................................................


"Dec 24 – Sonia, Rahul object to production of IT and Herald House eviction notices  

"Income Tax and Urban Development Ministry documents expose the frauds in National Herald

"Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday objected to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s demand for production of Income Tax notices and Urban Development Ministry’s notices in the National Herald case. Instead of producing the documents served to the accused persons which they already produced in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court, the Congress leaders in their objection affidavit said that Swamy is trying to delay the process and his demand petition was vague in nature.

"For more than two years from July 2018, Congress leaders are spending time cross-examining Swamy, and, in the affidavit, they said that the demand for other process and approval of the list of witnesses can be filed later after the current process. At present, the Income Tax notice of more than Rs.400 crores tax evasion and eviction of Herald House is pending before the Supreme Court. In both cases, Congress lost the case in Delhi High Court and now the appeals are pending in the apex court.

................................................................................................

"“The present application is liable to be dismissed being totally vague; tainted by inordinate delay and dilatory in nature,” the counsel appearing for the accused said. “The present application is also liable to be dismissed as the present application does not conform to the relevant provision,” the counsel told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta. In reply to the application, the accused said that while it was the legal right of Swamy to submit a list of witnesses sought to be summoned by him, the court was not conducting a “roving inquiry.”"

Obviously congi lawyers were telling the court how to react, what to say, and, in general, usurping the rights and privileges of court! 

................................................................................................

"“The complainant has not submitted any list of witnesses even though the recording of pre-charge evidence had commenced on July 21, 2018, when the complainant himself stepped into the witness box. Needless to say that the application has to satisfy the procedure prescribed by law,” said the Congress leaders objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents and witnesses."

Funny, did they mean that their own clients had no such requirements vis-a-vis law, and could ignore it at will, circumvent it, flout it? 

................................................................................................

"Reacting to Congress leaders’ objection, Swamy said that why they object on producing the Income Tax and other notices to them and asked to agree for the day-to-day hearing?"

Author gives another tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy in photographic format. 

"Income Tax and Urban Development Ministry documents expose the frauds in National Herald and that is why Congress leadership is objecting the production of these documents in the trial court. PGurus have published the Income Tax documents exposing the huge tax evasion of more than Rs.400 crores by Sonia and Rahul controlled company Young Indian. The 105-page Income Tax findings are ratified by Delhi High Court already."

There, "objecting the production" should read "objecting to the production"

"The application moved by Swamy had sought summoning of Secretary-General Sanjeev S Kalgaonar (Registry officer) Supreme Court of India, Rajnish Kumar Jha (Dy Land & Development officer), Saket Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax Circle-1 and a Congress official who issued a press statement on November 2, 2012. Swamy also sought summoning of journalist J Gopikrishnan, also as a witness. Rahul Gandhi earlier wrote to the journalist that there is no re-launch of the newspaper.

"There are seven accused in the case - Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Motilal Vora, who recently passed away, and the company Young Indian."

................................................................................................
................................................................................................

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................................................................................................

Contents 

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................................................................................................

National Herald frauds 

2012 

Oct 9 – News of NH re-launch 

2014 

June 16 – 

Summoned by Patiala Court 

What is National Herald Scam? 

The whole transaction is a sham: IT 

2015 

Oct 4 – Gandhis request a judge change 

Oct 23 – Young Indian deal above board 

Dec 05 – judgment Reserved Comprehensive report with detailed arguments of Dr. Swamy 

Dec 07 – Dr. Swamy prevails in NH case in Delhi HC 

Dec 08 – Congress cries Political vendetta - We beg to disagree 

Dec 10 – TMC, Congress walk out in Lok Sabha 

Dec 12 – Rahul Gandhi’s comments an insult to democracy 

Dec 13 – Reforms could get derailed by NH slugfest 

Dec 13 – Instead of a Nehru Memorial Library, Congress Bhavan building construction coming on AJL Mumbai Plot 

Dec 19 – Sonia, Rahul to seek bail? 

Dec 19 – Sonia, Rahul granted bail - next appearance on Feb 20 

Dec 22 – Congress Party in the dock 

Dec 23 – Sai Prasad Society constructed to accommodate senior Congress leaders and bureaucrats on land adjacent to NH plot 

2016 

Jan 03 – Subramanian Swamy seeks to force ED to reveal its stand in NH case 

Jan 03 – Ex-employees of NH to protest in Lucknow Jan 29 – 4 things I would do if I were the Finance Minister: Dr. Swamy 

Feb 05 – Why would RaGa, SoGa appeal the HC verdict in Supreme Court? 

Feb 12 – Supreme Court likely to hear Sonia, Rahul plea in Herald case on Friday 

Feb 13 – Supreme Court orders Gandhis back to Patiala house for the NH-case 

Feb 23 – RaGa’s British Bank account revealed 

Mar 22 – Peon gets his “15 minutes fame” 

Apr 19 – Delhi HC reserves judgment 

Jun 01 – India - Global Economic Power, Dr. Swamy can show the way... 

Jun 25 – Shaktikanta Das and his role in NH cases 

Aug 12 – Swamy urges Urban Development Ministry to take over Herald House 

Aug 27 – Court issued notice to Sonia, Rahul on Swamy’s plea for summoning documents 

Sep 06 – Would reviving newspapers help the Gandhis in the NHCase? 

Sep 18 – Sonia and Rahul object to summoning of documents in NH case. 

Nov 08 – ED summons Motilal Vora in Panchkula land deals 

Nov 15 – National Herald website launch a cover-up to beg mercy from the Court? 

Dec 09 – Blast from the Past: Patel - Nehru letters exposes the frauds in fund collection for NH 

Dec 09 – Court to decide on summoning documents in NH case on Dec 26 

Dec 26 – Court dismisses Swamy’s petition for docs from Govt & Congress. Directs to file appropriate petition 

2017 

Apr 06 – CBI files FIR against Hooda and AJL in NH case – Sends shivers to Sonia and Rahul 

Apr 21 – Enforcement Directorate questions Vora and Hooda in NH case 

Apr 22 – Swamy files application to summon Hooda. Congress-objects 

May 12 – Delhi High Court rejects Sonia & Rahul petition to quash Income Tax action 

May 13 – In 2004, IT had found 5.3cr illegal payment by Congress 

May 13 – Gandhi family’s Nemesis? 

May 14 – Swamy writes to CBI, ED Directors to book Sonia and Rahul in NH case 

May 14 – The Doctrine Cy-pres & NH Doctrine of Cy-pres and its scope and application in National Herald case 

May 24 – HC rejects Motilal Vora’s petition against ED in Money Laundering probe in NH case 

Jul 01 – Swamy applies for documents for Congress-AJL money trail Seeks documents of AJL funding 

Aug 05 – Congress objects to supply of documents Swamy produces documents to verify with them 

Aug 21 – Magistrate son terminated. Is the father, Justice V P Vaish in trouble too? Son's dismissal could mean trouble for the Meghalaya High Court Judge V P Vaish 

Oct 22 – Swamy praises PM Modi on fight against Corruption, lists out 7 crucial cases on which CBI is not acting 

Nov 18 – Sonia & Rahul reject cross verification of documents, allege Swamy is delaying National Herald case on Saturday in the Patiala Court 

2018 

Jan 01 – Fight against corruption must be one of the main New Year Resolutions of PM Modi Sonia family: Vadra land grabbing: Chidambaram family cases: Ahmed Patel family cases: NDTV cases: Controversial 2G trial court judgment: 

Jan 20 – Income Tax fixes Sonia-Rahul firm Young Indian for Rs.414 crores gains from NH frauds. Calls Congress Rs.90 crores loan claim “bogus” 

Jan 22 – Read 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order against Young Indian exposing Rs.414 crores gain 

Jan 24 – The silence of Congress on the Income Tax Assessment Order in NH case is deafening Why is Congress observing Maun vrat? 

Mar 19 – Delhi HC orders Young Indian to deposit Rs 10.cr in Income Tax recovery notice of Rs.250 crores 

Mar 28 – Why is Congress quiet on the IT fine of Rs.249.15 crores? 

Mar 31 – Is Kapil Sibal dilly-dallying on answering the allegations of controversial company purchase and land acquisition? 

Apr 21 – Congress objects on agreeing to their own documents. Arguments to start on May 5 

May 06 – Sonia and Rahul object Swamy’s demand for production and admission of their own documents 

May 14 – Court to pass orders on May 26 for production of documents. Congress continues to object to producing documents 

May 26 – The Special Court fast tracks NH trial. Allows Swamy to produce documents and summon officials 

Jul 21 – Subramanian Swamy starts submitting evidence 

Jul 21 – Congress leaders file petition to restrain Subramanian Swamy from Tweeting on NH 

Aug 05 – Urban Development Ministry issues notice to takeover the Herald House 

Aug 08 – IT catches Rahul for hushing up YI Directorship of Rs.154 crores income, approaches Delhi HC to quash order 

Aug 14 – Income Tax also catches Sonia Gandhi for hushing up Directorship of YI and hushing Rs.154 crores 

Aug 24 – The scam gets murkier. UDM’s Show Cause Notice exposes more frauds 

Aug 25 – Swamy produces Income Tax authenticated documents puncturing Congress Rs.90 cr loan claim as evidence 

Sep 10 – Delhi High Court dismisses Sonia-Rahul Gandhi petitions against Income Tax re-assessing in NH case 

Sep 14 – Mr. Arun Jaitley, hope you have learnt your lesson for treating Sonia family with kid gloves Jaitley and the DDCA Sonia Gandhi and the Agusta Westland deal 

Sep 17 – Swamy completes submission of evidence. Congress leaders to start cros on October 27 

Oct 06 – Congress demands Court restrain Swamy from Tweeting 

Oct 16 – Swamy’s anti-corruption, legal battles and its effect on South Indian politics 

Oct 20 – Swamy demands authentication of his tweets from Congress lawyer. Crossing of Swamy in NH case to begin on Nov 17 

Nov 12 – Government issues notice to Herald House to vacate by November 15. Congress leadership rushes to Court Covert acquisition by Shell companies 

Nov 20 – Court rejects Congress petition to restrain Subramanian Swamy from tweeting in NH case 

Dec 03 – ED attaches illegally allotted posh property to NH in Panchkula 

Dec 21 – Delhi HC orders AJL to vacate Herald House within two weeks. Observes violations in Sonia & Rahul firms takeover 

2019 

Jan 05 – A covert operation in CBDT to save Sonia and Rahul from Income Tax case in NH collapses 

Jan 14 – Swamy urges PM to order a probe on who is behind the dubious CBDT Circular to save Sonia & Rahul from NH case 

Feb 05 – Cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer begins on a low key 

Feb 28 – Delhi HC slams Sonia & Rahul of a clandestine operation to float YIL. Orders immediate eviction of Herald House 

Mar 12 – Exposed in the Herald House frauds, Congress leaders-led AJL appeals to SC, accuses-BJP of pathological animus to Nehru Swamy vindicated 

May 29 – ED attaches Rs.64 crores-worth Panchkula office of NH for money laundering 

Nov 13 – Dr. Swamy, the unstoppable force 

Nov 16 – Income Tax Tribunal exposes the frauds and dubious activities of Sonia & Rahul in acquiring properties of NH Scam exposed by Swamy NH Digital operation a sham 

2020 

Apr 07 – Sonia must surrender more than Rs.5000 crores-worth assets of NH grabbed by her NBA deplores Congress letter Practice what you preach 

May 09 – ED attaches 11-floor building in Bandra East, Mumbai for money laundering 

Jun 26 – Government must take back the land and building illegally used by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation: Subramanian Swamy 

Dec 05 –Swamy demands summoning of Income Tax documents and crucial witnesses. Sonia-Rahul lawyers cite COVID, seeking more time to cross Swamy 

Dec 24 – Sonia, Rahul object to production of IT and Herald House eviction notices Income Tax and Urban Development Ministry documents expose the frauds in National Herald List of References and authors 

Index 

Appendix 

Appendix 1 – Delhi HC judgment 

Appendix 2: National Herald vs BMC 

Appendix 3: CBI FIR in National Herald - Hooda 

Appendix 4: IT Assessment Order 

Appendix 5: NH order of Judge Samar Vishal Appendix 6: ITAT ruling on YI

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REVIEW 

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2012 

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Oct 9 – News of NH re-launch 

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"The National Herald scam first came in the public domain from a report published in ‘The Pioneer’ newspaper on October 9, 2012 by journalist J Gopikrishnan. The report was on the formation of a new private company titled ‘Young Indian (YI)’ by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi and that Young Indian took over the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL), a public limited company floated in 1938 by freedom fighters. The report headline was – ‘Sonia-Rahul set to revive media interests’. The report also quoted the documents of ‘Young Indian’ saying that Young Indian has decided to take over the liability of AJL to the Congress party of about Rs.90 crores at a value of Rs.50 lakhs. This curious wording of ‘Young Indian decided to take over the liability of AJL to the Congress party of Rs.90 crores at a value of Rs.50 lakhs’ planted doubts in the minds of many. The following day several newspapers carried the Pioneer report."

This paragraph above and similarly subsequent such paragraphs are accompanied by a photograph each, quite readable, of the article mentioned. 

"But the situation changed when journalist Gopikrishnan received an email from Rahul Gandhi late in the evening that day. In that email, Rahul Gandhi said that the report of a re-launch of the National Herald newspaper was totally wrong and on October 11, 2012, Pioneer carried a report that Rahul denied the re-launch of National Herald.

"This point onwards Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader (then in the Janata Party) Subramanian Swamy started asking questions that if YI is not reviving the newspaper, then why take over a newspaper publishing company AJL? Veteran Journalist Sandhya Jain wrote a series of articles in a website Niti Central on the irregularities in shareholding pattern of AJL, having hundreds of dead shareholders.

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January 16, 2022 - January 16, 2022. 

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2014 

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June 16 – 

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Summoned by Patiala Court 

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"To understand what transpired next, it is important to take a look at the prevailing political landscape in India. Fresh from the 2G scam victory, Subramanian Swamy had taken over the political discourse of India. His win against the Congress in the 2G scandal had put the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the mat. With another sensational revelation, Swamy’s popularity had skyrocketed."

It's unclear how author goes from "His win against the Congress in the 2G scandal" to "put the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the mat.", unless she means it in a way the phrase is not used in English, and means that congress and UPA were down. 

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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What is National Herald Scam? 

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"The AJL was a public limited company floated by freedom fighters in 1938 under the leadership of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru and known as the organ of Congress party. After Independence, AJL got prime lands across India to start editions of National Herald newspaper. The lands and buildings in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bhopal, Panchkula, Indore, Patna etc were valued at more than Rs.2,000 crores.  In 2008, Congress leadership decided to stop publishing the National Herald newspaper and its Hindi and Urdu versions too. In late 2010, Sonia and Rahul floated a private company called Young Indian with 38 percent shareholding for each. The remaining 24 percent shares were held by Gandhi family’s confidants Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez (12 percent each). Gandhi family’s trusted persons Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey were also Directors in this shell company – Young Indian. Interestingly, the now late Motilal Vora was a common figure – He was the Treasurer of Congress, Chairman and Managing Director of AJL and a Director at Young Indian. Many a time, Subramanian Swamy explained the scam in simple way that Motilal Vora went to Motilal Vora in another capacity to execute the scam ... "

Author gives a neat cartoon triptych. 

"On November 1, 2012, Subramanian Swamy conducted a big press conference exposing the documents of the National Herald scam. The very next day, Congress leaders owed up that they paid Rs.90 crores to help National Herald, which was illegal, as a political party was not supposed to fund commercial activities. Later, during the Income Tax investigation, it was found that Congress party’s claim was bogus, and the party had no records of such money transaction.

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"Subramanian Swamy approached the trial court in Delhi petitioning the National Herald scam in February 2013 charging Sonia and Rahul of cheating, and criminal conspiracy to grab the Rs.2000 crores-worth land and assets of AJL by floating a shell firm.  After 16 months of arguments by Swamy, on June 26, 2014 the trial court Magistrate Gomati Manocha summoned Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and five others to appear before the Court on August 7. This was the first time Sonia Gandhi was summoned by a Court and Congress went into a tizzy and started mouthing all kinds of abuses. A few days before appearing in the trial court, Congress leaders obtained a stay from the Delhi High Court. Three Judges were changed during the case and at last Justice Sunil Gaur on December 8, 2015 ratified the trial court’s summoning order and asked Sonia, Rahul, and others to appear in the trial court on December 19, 2015.

"Till the date of the Court appearance, Congress stalled the Parliament Session several times, accusing BJP of political vendetta and at last the leaders appeared before the Court on December 19, 2015. All the accused including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and Young Indian were granted bail and the trial is going on between the accused challenging many procedures of trial court in High Court. In January 2016, Supreme Court categorically said that the trial must go on.

"In 2017, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) found blatant irregularities in the land allotment and building usage of National Herald properties in Panchkula and Mumbai and the ED has attached both assets in 2019 and 2020. In 2018, Income Tax found huge tax violation of more than Rs.414 crores in Young Indian by illegally acquiring the assets of AJL, worth more than Rs.2000 crores. The headquarters in Delhi - Herald House – was asked to vacate by the Urban Development Ministry. In both cases, the Government actions were ratified by the Delhi High Court and the accused’s final appeal is before the Supreme Court form 2019."

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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The whole transaction is a sham: IT 

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"The 105-page assessment order of the Income Tax Department dated Dec 27, 2017 lays bare the sham transaction that was done to usurp the assets of AJL. The number of errors committed, including brazenly claiming that Congress put Rs.90.21crores into AJL between 2002 and 2008 without sufficient proof, is but a glimpse into the hubris-afflicted family comprising Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi. The document is a must-read for anyone who wants to know how under the UPA regime shell companies were used to move money in and out of legitimate businesses.  Below explains the roles played by the same set of six individuals to facilitate this sham transaction (Dec 2017). Some have died, and some roles have changed since then."

Author gives a neat table. 

"These two chapters set the context. PGurus has been consistently covering every event in National Herald case from October 2015. It is now 2021 and Congress continues to employ dilatory tactics as they try to stop the inevitable."

Hope the "inevitable" is correct, not just hope,  it comes true, and inexorably so.  

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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2015 

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Oct 4 – Gandhis request a judge change 

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"In an interesting turn of events, Zee News reported[1] that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court seeking the transfer of hearing in the National Herald case to the judge who had earlier heard the arguments in the matter at length. The Gandhis would like to have Justice Sunil Gaur (who had been re-assigned by the court administration earlier) to try this case instead of Justice P S Teji. 

"The case will be coming up in front of Justice P S Teji tomorrow, as reported earlier by us. 

"But as events turned out, the case was indeed heard by Justice Sunil Gaur, in December."

Wonder why the specific name was asked for by the guilty. 

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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Oct 23 – Young Indian deal above board 

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"Asserting all deals of Young Indian were above board, the Congress on Friday welcomed any probe with regard to the National Herald case. In an interview to ABP News, Randeep Surjewala asserted that “Young Indian had taken a commercial loan of ₹1 crore ($154,000) through cheque from a company of RPG group at an interest of 14%. The entire loan along with interest has been repaid to the same company of RPG group”[2]. 

"“If the Government of India, Enforcement Directorate, Registrar of Companies, Income Tax Department (IT), or any other agency have any doubts regarding the financial dealings of RPG group or Young India, they can initiate investigations. We would welcome it and are ready to cooperate with them,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday levelled charges against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case, alleging Young India, a company in which both Gandhis are said to have major stake, had borrowed a total of Rs.1 crore from a firm which was allegedly involved in converting black money into white."

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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Dec 05 – judgment Reserved 

Comprehensive report with detailed arguments of Dr. Swamy 

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"The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved its judgment in the National Herald case after senior BJP leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy made a forceful argument for dismissal of the pleas of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son, party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, and four others against a trial court order summoning them on a cheating and breach of trust complaint. 

"But to the discomfort of the Congress stalwarts, Justice Sunil Gaur observed that the Congress party could have written off the loan of Rs 90.25 crores it had given to the Associate Press Journal - publishers of National Herald, instead of assigning it to a charitable company — Young Indian, in which some of its leaders are directors.

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"Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the Gandhis, argued that the Congress `assigned’ the loan to Young Indian to “clean the balance sheets of AJL“ for the revival of the company and to make it loan worthy. 

"In the heart of the alleged scandal is the fact that the Congress loaned Rs 90.25 crores to (AJL), on December 28, 2010 and subsequently assigned this debt to Young Indian Ltd (YIL), a charitable company, for Rs.50 lakhs.

"Interestingly, Sonia and Rahul hold 76 percent share in the YIL and 12 per cent each are held by Congress treasurer Motilal Vora and party leader Oscar Fernandes. Vora is also the Chief Managing Director of the AJL, which has huge real estate assets worth around Rs.2000 cr. 

"The trial court had issued summons to Sonia, Rahul, Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda (the last two are directors of the YIL). The Congress leaders came to the HC seeking quashing of the trial court order.

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"Dr. Swamy contended that the loan was “illegally” given to the AJL since political parties cannot give such loans for commercial purposes. He also said that the YIL was floated by Sonia, Rahul, and Congress leaders to grab the properties of the AJL. However, Kapil Sibal and Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi contended that political parties can invest in news publications. 

"Dr. Swamy also argued that the AJL cannot legally assign its debt to the YIL at a ‘farcical value' of Rs.50 lakhs, and the said debt owed by the AJL to Congress was irretrievable.

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"Sibal denied Swamy’s charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust as no offence was committed against any an individual. He also questioned Swamy’s locus to file the complaint since he was not a victim."

"Stalling began. And it has not ended."

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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Dec 07 – Dr. Swamy prevails in NH case in Delhi HC 

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"The Delhi High Court handed down the judgment in the National Herald case, dismissing the petition of Congress to not appear in front of the Patiala Court. News from the High Court is that the Congress is rushing to the Supreme Court to file an appeal. Otherwise, Rahul and Sonia would have to appear in person in the Patiala District Court. 

"It has been observed in the past that the Supreme Court rarely overturns the ruling of 2 lower courts unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary.

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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Dec 08 – Congress cries Political vendetta - We beg to disagree 

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"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. 

"- Abraham Lincoln"

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"Congress's stance that the National Herald Case is one of political vendetta by the BJP does not hold water for the following reasons: 

"1. This was a private criminal case filed by Dr. Swamy in 2012 in Delhi Court during the UPA regime. At that time, Dr. Swamy was not in the BJP but he was the President of Janata Party.

"2. The case took its own time and on June 26, 2014 the Judge Ms. Gomati Manocha, the Metropolitan Magistrate-02, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi summoned the office bearers of Young Indian to the court.

"3. It took several months before every officer of the company could be served the summons. One such individual, Satyen (Sam) Pitroda had to be located in the USA before being served!

"4. Congress then moved the Delhi High Court to quash the summons issued. They used every trick in the book to delay the case in the High Court.

"5. All the work in this case was done by Dr. Swamy's team. As far as we know, there was no involvement of any significant BJP leader in this effort.

"6. BJP in fact, let the law of the land dictate the course of events. How is that Political vendetta?

"7. News has just emerged that the Metropolitan Judge for this case has been changed from Ms. Gomati Manocha to Sh. Lovleen. Is Congress going to say that they had nothing to do with this change? It has been done before, in the Delhi High Court!"

"Abraham Lincoln once said that “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” It is time the Congress Party faces up to the realities of their actions. Surely if there was no impropriety, they could have said that at the trial! Why delay it?"

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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Dec 10 – TMC, Congress walk out in Lok Sabha 

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"Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the drought situation in several parts of the country, parliamentarian Virendra Singh on Wednesday challenged the Congress leaders on their knowledge about the farmers in the country."

"Mahajan said she cannot force the member to apologise. She noted that papers were thrown at the chair on Wednesday. “Who all should I tell to apologise? Is it right to throw papers?” she said."

"Referring to Wednesday's protests, Biju Janata Dal member Bhartruhari Mahtab said that not only were papers thrown while the deputy speaker was in the chair, but his desk too was thumped repeatedly."

Certainly the misbehaviour by opposition since 2014 is not only no secret, but seems to have become the only policy they follow. 

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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Dec 12 – Rahul Gandhi’s comments an insult to democracy 

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"Union Minister for Human Resource Development Smriti Irani on Friday slammed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his comment that “National Herald case is vendetta coming out of the Prime Minister's Office,” calling it an insult to democracy. 

"“There can't be a bigger insult to our democracy. Judiciary and Democracy don't function at someone's comfort,” Irani said addressing a session at 'Agenda Aaj Tak' being organised here in the city.

"The statements being made by Gandhi show that if the “Judiciary doesn't kneel before the Gandhi family; parliament won't be allowed to function.” 

"The Parliament was not allowed to function properly because of this case. Repeated disruptions, cat calls in the house, members assembling in the well of the house – all to try and hide an open and shut case of stealing in plain sight."

Considering the opposition since 2014 has made it amply clear they intend to not stop short of arson, murders and riots, disruption of Parliament is only another anti-national tool they use as vendetta for having lost their grazing rights, due to the PM and his determination to wipe out corruption. 

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January 16, 2023 - January 16, 2023. 

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Dec 13 – Reforms could get derailed by NH slugfest 

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" ... The BJP may argue that Swamy has been acting on his own in pursuing the National Herald case and that it is mean-minded of the Congress to mix up the GST Bill with its own legal difficulties in a Goebbelsian manoeuvre, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said. But, since democracy is known to be messy, the case for the compartmentalization of its various aspects may not be foolproof. As it is, the Congress has found a supporter in Mamata Banerjee even if she is playing her own game of keeping the Congress away from a possible alliance with the Left in West Bengal before next year's assembly elections."

" ... Each side will try to hit the other where it hurts the most - the Congress by creating a ruckus in parliament even if it earns the reputation of being petty-minded, and the BJP by arguing that none in the Congress's first family - Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Robert Vadra - is above the law."

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January 16, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Dec 13 – Instead of a Nehru Memorial Library, Congress Bhavan building construction coming on AJL Mumbai Plot 

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Here author provides a photograph of the then under construction building being referred to next. 

"Prime Land allotted to M/s Associated Journals (AJL), the holding company of the Congress Mouthpiece the National Herald and Qaumi Awaz newspapers was granted a waiver of interest charges to a tune of Rs 2.79 crores ($417,000) accrued due to delayed payment for land allotment. Instead of a Nehru Memorial Library, a Congress Bhavan building construction is coming up on AJL Mumbai Plot. This information was provided to RTI activist Anil Galgali by BMC Fire Brigade.

"RTI activist Anil Galgali had sought information from the Municipal corporations Building proposal dept about the permissions granted to M/s Associate Journals for carrying out construction on the land. It was informed that the company was issued commencement certificate on 14/06/2013 by the MCGM and since the land came under the funnel of the Airport Authority the NOC for the same was granted on 05/02/2014. The building will be of 11 floors and will be having a minimum of 135 car parking spaces, it also has 14 office spaces in the ground to the 11th floor, but there is no earmarking for Newspaper offices, Library and Research center. Instead of Nehru Memorial Library, a Congress Bhavan building construction will be coming up on AJL Mumbai Plot. ... "

" ... Anil Galgali in a letter addressed to CM Devendra Fadnavis has demanded that the construction activity should be immediately stopped, and the land allotment be immediately scrapped, and possession be taken by the govt and since the land is originally reserved for the purpose of Hostel for Backward classes, and hostel for the Backward class be constructed on the land."

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"How did they get a Prime Plot?

"Amid allegations that the Congress party gave an interest-free loan to Associated Journals Ltd with an eye on the company’s real estate assets, it now emerges that the company that publishes National Herald and Quami Awaz was allotted a prime plot of land by the government of Maharashtra in suburban Mumbai, ostensibly for a press and a Nehru Memorial Library, neither of which was built. The interest on the amount turned out to a massive Rs 2.79 crores ($479,000) which in 2001 was waived off by the then Revenue Minister Ashok Chavan.

"Government documents procured from RTI activist Anil Galgali show that the land was allotted to M/s Associated Journal in 1983 for Rs 1.31 crore ($196,000) in Bandra. However, they did not observe one of the key conditions of the lease by commencing construction in the plot within 3 years of it being allotted. Moreover, it did not even pay up the entire principal amount in one go. The interest on the amount turned out to a massive Rs 2.79 crores ($479,000) which in 2001 was waived off by then Revenue Minister Ashok Chavan. The plot was given for daily news publication, a Nehru library and a research centre in 1983 by Government but it is still is in an as is condition. This plot before handover to M/s Associated Journal's, was to build a hostel for students (Scheduled Caste) for which it was originally reserved. Not only did Associated Journals not construct the press building and library, but it also managed to obtain repeated extensions from the State Government while continuing to hold on to the 30-year lease, which now expires on 22/12/2014. After Anil Galgali's RTI and Complaint made to the Government, now the Company had started the construction work. “Will you as chief minister be able to initiate proceedings for the state government to reclaim land that is now under the control of Rahul Gandhi? There is a question about this,” Galgali has said in his letter dated 2.11.2012. He goes on to say that the market value of the land is now about Rs 250 crores ($37.364 million). But then the Mr. Clean CM did not take any action after a reminder letter was sent by Galgali dated 12.12.2013.

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"According to the Mumbai Mirror[3], the Mumbai Unit of the BJP has written to BMC chief Ajoy Mehta, demanding that a 'stop work' notice be issued to prevent further misuse of a plot in Bandra[4].

"Mumbai Mirror goes on to further report that the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday the 15th of December, 2015, announced a probe to know whether the plot was used for commercial activities. “We will conduct an inquiry and if irregularity is observed, action will be taken in accordance with law,” Fadnavis said.

"Copies of the correspondence between BMC and Shri. Galgali as well as the submissions and correspondence between BMC and Motilal Vora, the Treasurer is provided as a link in Appendix 2."

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Dec 19 – Sonia, Rahul to seek bail? 

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"Party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said all legal options were open to the party, including applying for bail. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad too spoke in a similar vein on Thursday. 

"“The Congress president and vice president have full faith in the judiciary and full faith in the law of the land. Whatever we shall have to do as per the law, we will do,” Azad said."

The latter has, since, left the party. 

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Dec 19 – Sonia, Rahul granted bail - next appearance on Feb 20 

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"Kapil Sibal, who appeared on behalf of the Congress leaders, told reporters that the court rejected Swamy's plea to impose restrictions on the travel abroad of Congress leaders. 

"“We moved an application on behalf of all the accused for grant of bail. The court was kind enough to grant bail without conditions except for furnishing security in the sum of Rs. 50,000 on behalf of each of the accused which were furnished,” he told reporters after the hearing."

Ridiculously low amounts, in view of even the arrears in taxes alone, apart from the embezzlement. 

"The trial court also granted bail to Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, Gandhis' family friend Suman Dubey and another party leader Oscar Fernandes who also appeared before it.

"Congress leader A.K. Antony gave surety for Sonia Gandhi while Priyanka Gandhi gave surety for her brother Rahul Gandhi. 

"Another accused Sam Pitroda, a former chairman of the National Innovation Council was granted exemption from personal appearance after he moved a plea for the same."

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"The Delhi High Court this month dismissed the Gandhis' plea to quash the summons issued to them by the trial court on June 26, on Swamy's complaint about “cheating” in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd., which published the National Herald newspaper, by Young Indian Ltd., “a firm in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each own a 38 percent stake.”"

"Earlier, Azad accused Modi of backing Swamy in his complaint, while party colleague Randeep Singh Surjewala termed Swamy “a stooge” of Modi. 

"Swamy rubbished the allegations, while BJP leader Muqtar Abbas Naqvi said his party had nothing to do with the case."

Funny, opposition thinks it's enough to besmirch a complainant, or not even that, but just call their association with Hindus questionable, without defending the actual corruption and embezzlement they - the opposition since 2014 - have been exposed practicing for well over half a century. 

"“National Herald is yours. Corruption is yours. BJP has nothing to do with all this,” he told the media."

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Dec 22 – Congress Party in the dock 

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"The Congress finds itself in the dock over a damning revelation that Young Indian, the controversial company floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to acquire National Herald newspaper firm took ₹1 crore ($154,000) loan from a dubious Kolkata-based company to start its operations in the end of 2010[5]. The Income Tax department’s Kolkata unit’s probe in connection with the National Herald case found that ₹1 crore ($154,000) loan originated from a company called Dotex Merchandise Private Limited. This company, linked to famous RPG Group, acted as a shell company, and was promoted by a money launderer Uday Shankar Mahawar. 

"According to the Income Tax Department, during the interrogation, Mahawar confessed that he was only “entry operator” for this little-known firm. The term ‘entry operator’ in Income Tax refers to the shell company owners engaged in floating companies and money laundering.

"“During the course of post Survey investigation Uday Shankar Mahawar voluntarily disclosed and offered to tax an additional income of ₹3 crores ($462,000) over and above his regular income... In his statement Uday Shankar Mahawar stated that he is an entry operator, and he forms companies to provide accommodation entry in the form of share capital, bogus billing etc.

"“He had formed more than 300 companies and sold them to various beneficiaries after raising bogus share capital. It appears that as of now most of the companies have been sold and the real funds have been infused in these companies. So, the current directors/ shareholders of these companies are the real beneficiaries. Uday Shankar Mahawar has provided bogus accommodation of share capital to various beneficiaries to the tune of Rs.500 crores,” said IT headquarters alert issued to its units across the country dated December 4, 2014.

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"Reacting to the media reports on the links with money launders of Kolkata, the RPG Group said that they did no wrong. The company Dotex Mercandize Private Limited, floated by Mahawar, which donated ₹1 crore ($154,000) is now linked with RPG Group. RPG Group’s senior executives Sunil Bhandari and Sunil Kumar Sanganeria are the current Directors of this controversial company. Bhandari is currently Director of more than 20 companies including RPG Group’s major such as including Spencer International Hotels Limited and Duncan Bros & Co Ltd. 

"In November 2012, Sonia Gandhi’s archrival BJP leader Subramanian Swamy exposed this deal and went to trial court.

"Sanganeria is also Director of several companies including RPG Groups’ major companies like Kolkata Metro Networks Limited and Music World Retail Limited. Interestingly Dotex Merchandize’s email id given in official documents are of RPG Group’s email id - rpsg.secretarial@rp-sg.in

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"Background: The Young Indian was floated by Sonia and Rahul with 38% stake each at the end of 2010. Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora and the party General Secretary Oscar Fernadez owned 12% shares in the company. Gandhi family loyalists Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are also Directors of this company. 

"Within weeks of its formation, the Young Indian declared that they had taken over the ₹90 crores ($13.83 million) worth debt of Associated Journal Limited (AJL), the publishers of the defunct National Herald newspaper. The AJL got ₹90 crores ($13.83 million) loan from Congress party. The move by the Young Indian to take over Rs.90 cr debts of AJL, which it owed to the Congress, at a paltry sum of ₹50 lakhs ($77,000) created the entire controversy.

................................................................................................

"Another dubious action by the AJL was to allot fresh 9 lakh shares to Young Indian towards this debt also has kicked up a row. Through this dubious share allotment, Young Indian acquired 99.1% ownership in the AJL.

"It must be noted Motilal Vora is Director of the Young Indian as well as Chairman and managing director of the AJL and treasurer of the Congress party.

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"AJL was a public limited company floated in 1937 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders. After independence, the AJL got lands from several governments across India for publishing newspaper. The lands in New Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Bhopal, Indore, Panchkula are currently valued at around Rs.5000 crores and Young Indian is now the custodian of these huge assets.

"In November 2012, Sonia Gandhi’s archrival BJP leader Subramanian Swamy exposed this deal and went to trial court. The Metropolitan Magistrate, after 18-month long arguments issued summons to the Congress heavy weights in June 2014. Currently the trial court’s order is challenged in Delhi High Court for the past 15 months. The case shuttled between three judges and currently back to the second Judge Justice Sunil Gaur. Next hearing on this politically sensitive case is scheduled on November 6."

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Dec 23 – Sai Prasad Society constructed to accommodate senior Congress leaders and bureaucrats on land adjacent to NH plot 

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"Crushed hopes of Mumbaikars by coming up on land required for constructing the 7th Corridor Railway line linking Kurla with Bandra

"The plot belonging to National Herald in Mumbai which continues to torment the Congress Party has infamous neighbours as well. A Society named Sai Prasad which contains names of Senior Congress leaders like Kripashankar Singh and senior bureaucrats like the current Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya was constructed on a plot adjoining the National Herald plot that originally belonged to the National Herald. This section of the plot was reserved to construct the necessary 7th Corridor connecting the Kurla Railway station on the Central Railway with Bandra Railway Station on the Western Railway through the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) which if constructed could have provided a cheaper and faster travel mode to the BKC. The construction of Saiprasad society dashed the hopes of Mumbaikars travelling between the Central & Western Railway of a cheaper connectivity and travel mode. This information was provided to RTI Activist Anil Galgali.

"Saiprasad Cooperative Society had applied for allotment of plot next to the Provident Fund building on 12th April 2000. A plot admeasuring 6518.7 sq mtrs situated in Survey no 341 and CTS No 608/1 & 608/2 had an un allotted portion of only 1016.2 sq mtrs. Almost 1664.4 sq mtrs of land was reserved for the 7th corridor Bandra - Kurla Rail link. To merge and collect both the un allotted plots the layout of National Herald was modified without disturbing its size of 3479.26 sq mtrs. After change of the layout, 1340.3 sq mtrs of the total collected land of 2680.6 sq mtrs was alloted to Saiprasad society. Later, an additional 63.08 sq mtr of the land was allotted to Saiprasad taking its total allotment to 1403.35 sq mtrs. Saiprasad Society paid the Govt Rs.58 Lakhs 79 Thousand 114 as cost of the land between 2003 to 2007 costing a measly Rs.4190 per sq mtr to the society, whose members were prominent politicians and senior bureaucrats. The ready reckoner rates at that time for the location was Rs.43,000 per sq mtr[6]."

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"New 'Adarsh'

"Then Guardian Minister Kripashankar Singh misused his position as Guardian Minister for Mumbai suburbs to get the land allotted to Saiprasad1. The Collector of Mumbai Suburbs Shri C S Sangitrao's daughter and brother along with the Resident Dy Collector Milind Shambarkar, Private Secretary to CM Dr. Avinash Dhakne, were also beneficiaries of the allotment as they procured flats in the constructed society. The Current Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya, Information Commissioner Ajitkumar Jain, Ex Municipal Commissioner and accused in Adarsh Scam Jairaj Phatak, Kishore Gajbhiye, Himanshu Roy, Bipinkumar Singh, Hemant Kothikar, H K Javale, Rajkumar Kharatmol, were also beneficiaries along with Rucha Mistry, daughter of C S Sangitrao and his brother also C S Sangitrao."

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"A peon also gets 'Lottery'

"There are also indications of Benami property in Saiprasad, as a peon working in a school at Dhule, Abhimanyu Daga Bhosale too has a flat in his name. His annual income is just Rs 55,000. One Surendra Pratap Singh, Brother-In-Law of Kripashankar Singh and a vegetable vendor in Navi Mumbai Ramashankar Shivmanohar Pandey also have a flat. Their flats were originally allotted to M M Mathew and Parvatidevi Lalbahadur Singh. The flat allotted to Adv Ujjwal Nikam was transferred to H K Jawale. The chief Promoter of the Society Adv Rajiv Chavan, also a Congress leader too holds a flat.

"RTI Activist Anil Galgali had written a letter 5 years back to the then Chief Minister 'Mr Clean' Prithviraj Chavan on 31st December 2010, but no action was taken on the letter. The whole issue likens to the Adarsh scam and is even more graver as people in power that got flats in Adarsh similarly got flats allotted for themselves in Saiprasad. But greater role was played in Saiprasad as the whole plot was realigned to get the plot for Saiprasad. The Hunger of the Politicians and the Senior Bureaucrats swallowed the hopes of Mumbaikars for having the 7th corridor connectivity of Kurla to Bandra, alleged Anil Galgali. Anil Galgali in a letter addressed to CM Devendra Fadnavis has demanded that the roadblocks be cleared for the 7th Corridor and the possession of Saiprasad be taken and shifted to clear the way for the development of 7th corridor as is the practice undertaken in different development projects."

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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2016 

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Jan 03 – Subramanian Swamy seeks to force ED to reveal its stand in NH case 

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"In a move that would force the Modi government to reveal its stand on the National Herald (NH) case, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has approached the trial court, seeking issuance of directive to the Centre to submit the findings of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe in the scandal that has big ramification for the Congress party and its top leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. He court will hear the matter on January 11.

"Swamy, who is a complainant in this case, has also asked the court to summon documents of the Delhi Development Authority in this case. The BJP and senior ministers of the Modi government have all along tried to maintain a ‘hands off’ approach from the Swamy complaints. Top ministers of the Modi government have claimed that the ED and Income tax department have so far not acted against the Gandhis in the NH Case and tried to blunt the edge of the Opposition party charge that the Modi regime was pursuing vendetta politics."

One must wonder, why the defensive stance by government in what's a case of huge embezzlement. 

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"Last month, speaking at the Aaj Tak Agenda programme, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that his government had taken no action in this case. “Action has so far not been taken. ED has not issued any notice. Tax authorities have not passed any assessment order,” he said, adding, “The government will wait for the outcome of court proceedings. If there is a tax angle, then taxation authorities will ask questions for which there is a due process.”

"Swamy’s plea before the court to summon documents of ED in this case will force the probe agency to reveal the progress it has done so far in this case. In a way, it will also be testimony of the view taken by the Modi government in pursuing this case. In the past, Swamy alleged that the former Director of ED Rajan Katoch was working at the behest of the Congress party (he is related to Digvijay Singh of Congress) and trying to suppress the investigation in the case. After Swamy wrote to the PM to replace Katoch last August, the Government replaced Katoch with Karnal Singh the very next day and reopened the NH Case.

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"In his first letter to PM (dated August 11, 2015), Swamy said “the present director seems to have no interest in pursuing any matter connected with the Congress Party, perhaps, due to the fact that he is a close relative of Digvijay Singh, who is General Secretary of the Congress party.”

"Further, Swamy said he had provided Katoch “a detailed report of money-laundering carried out by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and four others in the acquisition of National Herald's publishing company.” Swamy also alleged that “an invisible hand” was stopping the ED from launching an investigation.

"In his second letter to Modi dated August 12, Swamy once again provided details of the NH case and accused the ED of not registering a case of money laundering against Rahul and Sonia. Following this letter, Katoch was removed[7].

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"On August 26, Katoch’s successor Karnal Singh, reversed an order by his predecessor and issued a circular clarifying that the ED can probe a case even in the absence of a predicate offence such as an FIR by the police or any other investigating agency if the court has taken cognizance of a complaint.

"Last year, Swamy also demanded that the Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO) should be asked to probe the NH case in view of allegations by some shareholders of Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) that they were not consulted before the company’s equity was transferred to Young Indian Private Ltd."

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Jan 03 – Ex-employees of NH to protest in Lucknow 

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"Former employees of Associated Journals Ltd., publishers of the now defunct National Herald, Navjivan and Qaumi Awaz, on Saturday said they would stage a sit-in demonstration at the office gate here from January 18 to 21 against the “step-motherly treatment” meted out to them by the management.

"Before the sit-in, a general body meeting of the employees will be held at the office gate on January 16. This was decided at a meeting of the former employees union presided over by its president Kazim Hussain on Saturday.

"In a statement issued by union general secretary Dilip Sinha, the Lucknow employees are demanding payment by the same formula that was applied for payment to their counterpart in Delhi which was promised by the management at the time of final payment to them in January 1999.

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"Besides, the registered office of the company in Lucknow was closed in 1999, earlier than the branch office in Delhi which stopped publication of the paper in 2008, and the Lucknow employees are also demanding wages for this period. 

"Sinha said the meeting also demanded re-launch of the three newspapers and urged the chairman of Associated Journals Ltd. to hold a meeting with the union on their demands before the meeting of shareholders slated for January 21."

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Jan 29 – 4 things I would do if I were the Finance Minister: Dr. Swamy 

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It's unclear, except to those who know as much of the subject as Dr Subramanian Swamy does, if his ideas would benefit nation as he thinks. 

"In a wide ranging interview with ETV Rajasthan, in the program Aamne-Saamne with host Dr. Anita Hada Sangwan, Dr. Subramanian Swamy was his erudite self as he listed four things that he would do, if he were to be the Finance Minister:

"Abolish Personal Income Tax - To boost India's economy, the government should do something that immediately has a positive effect on people's mindset and that would be the step of abolishing Personal Income Tax. The fiscal fallout of this can be managed in many ways, including auction of Coal mining, Telecommunications Spectrum etc.

"Simplify Excise Duties - There are about 2788 commodities on which Excise duties are levied today. Of these, the government gets 90% of the revenue from the top 21. Therefore, simplify the Excise duties, remove the 2767 items and in the remaining 21, make it standard for each commodity (i. e. do not have sub-classification e. g. Fiber/ Cotton/ Rayon etc.)

"Enable Agriculture in India - India is one of the cheapest producers of Agriculture based products. The Government should encourage this sector by making it easy for farmers to store/ ship/ process goods they make. India is one of the few countries in the world that allows agricultural production year-round and the government should take steps to ensure that this is enabled to the fullest extent. It may need India to engage with the rest of the World in WTO by rationalizing tariffs etc.

"Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) - Allow FDI only in those projects that come with technical know how. Retailers such as Walmart, if allowed, will obliterate the small Mom and Pop stores in the country because of the lower interest rate that they enjoy in the United States.

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"He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a definite plan in his mind in terms of how he wants to approach India-Pakistan relations and that the country should give him room to execute it rather than scrutinizing and second guessing his every move. Answering to a question as to whether he was disappointed about not being a part of the Cabinet, he replied that he neither asked for it nor wanted it and therefore there is no question of being disappointed."

"On the issue of Rahul Gandhi's British citizenship issue[10], he stated that Rahul Gandhi himself has stated his British Citizenship in his filings (he was the Company Secretary) and therefore knew fully well what he was doing."

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Feb 05 – Why would RaGa, SoGa appeal the HC verdict in Supreme Court? 

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"In the National Herald case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, on Thursday Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi moved the Supreme Court demanding the Delhi High Court order rejecting their plea against their summoning by a trial court."

Author of that paragraph above, whether author of the book or not, has left not only the sentence incomplete but the vital bit left out. 

Something akin to, say, "be quashed" needs be inserted at the end. 

"Besides challenging the high court's December 7, 2015 order, both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have sought the stay of the proceedings before the trial court till their plea was decided by the top court and the grant of exemption from personal appearance before the lower court.

"“Stay the proceedings of complaint case under sections 403, 406, 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, pending in the court of the metropolitan magistrate, till the disposal of the present SLP,” read the prayer in the petition by Sonia Gandhi.

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"Both the Gandhis have sought exemption from personal appearance before the trial court but said that they would appear before the trial court as and when “desired by the magistrate in accordance with law.”

"Apart from the Gandhis, accused Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey have also moved the apex court against the high court order.

"The Congress leaders have also challenged the high court order on the grounds of it going into the merits of the case and making adverse observations. 

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"In her petition, Sonia Gandhi says that on “one hand, the high court holds that the actions of the accused 'smacks of criminality', and in the same breath goes on to hold that 'what species of criminal offence’ is made out is not required to be seen at this initial stage.”

"The approach “is untenable in law. It is submitted that 'criminality' cannot be divorced from the offences prescribed under the Penal Code. If the ingredients of the offences alleged are not at all made out even prima facie, there cannot be any 'criminality'“, she said in her plea."

One notices that criminals, having committed financial crimes quite deliberately, then resort to such arguments.

"On the question of locus of Swamy in the matter, the Congress leader has pointed out that “interestingly, a single judge (of the high court) himself raised the question of locus standi. Even before the petitioners went ahead with their arguments, the complainant was asked to assist in the matter qua the issue of locus standi.”  

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"The high court had rejected the plea of Gandhis, as well as Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, Gandhi family friend Dubey and party leader Oscar Fernandes against the summons issued by the trial court on June 26, 2015 on Swamy's complaint alleging “cheating” in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) by Young Indian Ltd. (YIL) - “a firm in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi each own a 38 percent stake.”

"Swamy had claimed that both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as majority shareholders of YIL, benefited from the acquisition of AJL. 

"He had alleged that AJL had received an interest-free loan of Rs.90.25 crores ($13.33 Million) from the Congress and that the party transferred the debt to YIL for Rs.50 lakhs.

"At the time, AJL, which had Vora as its chairman, claimed that it could not repay the loan and agreed to transfer the company and its assets to YIL.

"The Congress, while challenging the summons before the high court, had contended that Swamy was a political opponent, and the criminal proceedings were initiated only with an intent to secure an oblique political objective. They had contended that the complaint made by Swamy against them was only “allegations without any supporting proof.”"

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Feb 12 – Supreme Court likely to hear Sonia, Rahul plea in Herald case on Friday 

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" ... In a detailed FAQ posted on the party web site1, Congress tried to downplay this case as an internal matter as National Herald was started by Congress Party in the thirties."

As Dr.Subramanian Swamy pointed out when another channel said so, no, it's neither internal nor family matter, much less personal; when AJIL was begun it had been donated to and invested in by thousands of Indians out of their meager earnings, and India has a right to question when the properties given by India to this corporation, for a purpose, are subsequently treated as private commercial properties, which was explicitly forbidden at the very outset. 

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"Besides challenging the high court order of December 7, 2015, both the Gandhis have sought the stay of the proceedings before the trial court till their plea was decided by the top court and grant of exemption from personal appearance before the lower court.

"However, they have said that they would appear before the trial court as and when “desired by the magistrate in accordance with law.”"

Well, the whole scam they were perpetrating until they were exposed by Dr Subramanian Swamy was to circumvent the law in the flimsiest manner, so thinly veiled that anyone without proficiency in either law or accountancy can comprehend the said expose by Dr Subramanian Swamy. 

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Feb 13 – Supreme Court orders Gandhis back to Patiala house for the NH-case 

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"Refusing to set aside the Delhi High Court's 26-page dismissal order on December 7, 2015 in the National Herald case, the Supreme Court on Friday directed Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Vice President Rahul Gandhi and others to appear before the Magistrate in the Patiala Court complex. Making it clear that they were not going to reverse the high court order, Justice Khehar said that their interference would be limited to the adverse inferences and conclusions by the high court.

"A bench of Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice C. Nagappan also exempted the Gandhis and others from personal appearances, noting that their presence in the trial court would cause more “inconvenience, than convenience.” However, it added that the trial court was free to have their presence as and when needed."

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"“On factual position in paragraph 31 and conclusion in paragraph 39 of the High Court judgment, we are of the view that it will not be open (for trial) court recording any findings based on conclusions and same has to be decided after recording of the evidence. So, paragraph 31 and paragraph 39 are expunged,” the court said."

This amounts to letting the criminals go scot-free, unless another court repeats exactly those observations. 

"The High Court in paragraph 31, while holding that a political party was free to tap other avenues to augment its income, however said that the allegations against the Congress office bearers are that of “siphoning off the party funds in a clandestine manner.”

"Questioning the propriety of the party “extending interest free loans to a separate legal entity i. e. AJL“, it had said that “what crops up in the mind of a prudent person is as to where was the need of extending interest free loans to a public limited company engaged in a commercial venture of publishing newspapers.”

"In paragraph 39, it had said: “After having considered the entire case in its proper perspective, this court finds no hesitation to put it on record that the modus operandi adopted by petitioners in taking control of AJL via special purpose vehicle i.e. YI, particularly, when the main persons in Congress party, AJL and YI are the same, evidences a criminal intent.”

"“Whether it is cheating, criminal misappropriation or criminal breach of trust is not required to be spelt out at this nascent stage,” it said."

Presumably "it" at the end there refers to apex court, and the statement implies that the paragraphs aren't expunged permanently, but can be brought in at a later stage. 

"Directing Gandhis and others to appear before the trial court, the high court had said it could not be argued that no case for their summoning has been made out, and the “questionable conduct” of petitioners needs to be properly examined at the charge stage to find out the truth and so, these criminal proceedings cannot be thwarted at this initial stage."

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Feb 23 – RaGa’s British Bank account revealed 

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"Rahul Gandhi must be cringing every time Subramanian Swamy makes a trip overseas! Details of his Bank account in England tumbled out along with the revelations that both his “pseudonym” Raul Vinci (allegedly used for security purposes) and his real name Rahul Gandhi reside at 2 Frognal Way, London NW3 6XE. We have covered this in the past about RaGa's company Backops Limited[12].

"Rahul Gandhi's British nationality and company details and allegations that he may have received kickbacks in Defence deals has been extensively documented in this site and elsewhere[13]. Here is a detailed list on where all things Rahul Gandhi stand as of now:

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"British Nationality of Rahul Gandhi - This issue is now currently in Ethics Committee in Lok Sabha. L K Advani is the Chairman[14]. The findings are still awaited. In a routinely used strategy, an advocate M L Sharma, filed a sloppy Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition on this in the Supreme Court, which was rejected[15]. Congress promptly claimed that because of this, there was no merit in the allegations. 

"Scorpene submarine deal - Subramanian Swamy had alleged that Rahul Gandhi's company received kickbacks in the Scorpene Deal signed by India with the French Company DCNS. There have been no updates on this except for the Navy buying three more Scorpene submarines[16].

"National Herald case, Money Laundering - In August 2014, it was announced that ED would be probing the case from a Money Laundering angle. The findings are still awaited[17]."

Considering the properties owned by AJIL and their illegal usage attempted by the family via transfer shenanigans, calling it only money laundering rather than humongous embezzlement is akil to calling, say, Mallya a pickpocket. 

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Author provides photograph of the letter from Dr Subramanian Swamy to ED, pointing out the irregularity regarding a self declared British citizen - Rahul Gandhi - being member of Parliament of India, legally not permitted by India, and asking him to declare the seat as vacant. 

Why this was not promptly done is a question that needs to be dealt with. 

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Mar 22 – Peon gets his “15 minutes fame” 

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"The courtroom in Patiala House under Justice Lovleen was jampacked. A reluctant Congress asked for more time to release its account books for the year 2010-2011. Justice Loveleen then set Friday, April 8 to get Congress to submit its yearly accounts books during the scam interval of 2010-2011 in the National Herald case (NHCase). 

"The court also asked Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), publisher of National Herald, to produce its accounts for the above-mentioned period.

"Metropolitan Lovleen's strict instructions came after the battery of lawyers representing the Congress party requested the court for more time to check out the March 11 order for making the accounts.

"Congress was supposed to have submitted the documents today. At one-point, the attorneys even said that there was only a peon in the AICC office who had obtained it and the summons was received by them just on Saturday. Senior lawyers R S Cheema, Ramesh Gupta and Badar Mahmood argued saying, “Summons was not clear as to whether it was for 2010, 2011 or for both.” There was no senior leader at that stage to refer it to, the lawyers said, even as they produced the peon as evidence to vindicate their state. The Peon got his “15 minutes of fame.”

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"Hearing this discussion, plaintiff Subramanian Swamy quipped that the AICC office was a “haunted house” and that these were all smart justifications to delay the process. He urged the magistrate to provide stern directions.

"The lawyers also contended that Swamy had already shown AJL's balance sheets and there is certainly no demand to re-create them again. Lawyers also showed the magistrate printouts of some tweets of Swamy. 

"“We are being taken for a ride. The records summoned are already on the record of the court. It's just for the objective of marketing that the complainant has filed this charge as he has been 'tweeting' concerning this circumstance from his social network account Twitter,” stated R S Cheema.

"Swamy countered that the magistrate has requested for the account books of AJL throughout the scam period of 2010-11 and that the balance sheets should be made available in the public domain. He said that Registrar of Business authorities was summoned earlier to verify who the directors in AJL were throughout the applicable period rather than for the point of just checking the balance sheets.

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"Meanwhile, the Income Tax department submitted files in a sealed cover. Another five Government departments such as Urban Development Ministry and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have previously submitted the files a week ago.

"Motilal Vora, the AICC treasurer and an accused in the case, has already challenged the magistrate’s order summoning Government documents from six departments, with the next hearing in the case scheduled on April 4 in the Delhi High Court. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi have also filed a petition in this regard before the magistrate for seeking a revision of the order."

Later development shows the mindset of the half axis descendents and the axis DNA erstwhile president of the party, in this context; now that the since then late Motilal Vora is no longer able to defend himself, the family has conveniently blamed hom for all wrongdoings, claiming they only signed everything he asked them to; but since that only enriched them, at least one media house had courage to question such a possibility. 

"In an earlier hearing, the magistrate decided to put the Government documents in the sealed cover considering the case being heard in the High Court. Swamy on Monday argued that as there was no stay from the High Court, the sealed cover may be opened, which was objected to by the Congress lawyers."

"Noted political commentator, Swaminathan Gurumurthy observed caustically that there were no records of Congress ever having transferred the 90 crores to AJL - rather these were Black money transactions of Motilal Vora!"

Very revealing, the tweets by the senior journalist Gurumurthy, produced here by author in photographs. 

" ... The best one-liner that comes to mind about this case is of how Motilal Vora, the treasurer of Young Indian, asks through AJL whose treasurer is Motilal Vora, of Congress whose treasurer too is Vora (!), a loan of 90 crores."

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January 17, 2023 - January 17, 2023. 

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Apr 19 – Delhi HC reserves judgment 

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"Lawyers try to slow down #NHCase, appealing to Delhi High Court to deny access to files 

"Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on pleas filed by Congress leaders against the trial court order summoning files from Ministries of Finance and Corporate Matters, other agencies along with the balance sheet of the party for 2010-2011 in the National Herald case. It is expected that this judment will be out before May 5th, when the trial resumes in the Patiala Court.

"“Order allowed,” Justice P S Teji said following the counsel appearing for petitioners concluded their rebuttal arguments in the problem.

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" ... Speculation is rife that the money supposedly given by Congress may not have originated from the party. For more on this, refer to the tweets of S Gurumurthy on this case[21].

"Swamy had earlier contended that the high court should dismiss these pleas seeking stay on both trial court's conclusion, like the one summoning the 2010-11 balance sheet of the Indian National Congress (INC) in relation to the case."

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January 17, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Jun 01 – India - Global Economic Power, Dr. Swamy can show the way... 

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"Dr. Swamy is the most sought & heard leaders in India today; his lectures these days are jam packed with enthusiastic youth, women, and others attending in huge numbers. His popularity is growing tremendously with his Nation First, India First initiative. The call to take pride with our Culture, tradition, heritage have struck a chord with the youth of the nation and they are flocking to hear him and has resulted in him being the most viewed and liked leader on the net.

"Dr. Swamy is a firm believer that Economic development must be based not only on material output and economic services but also on ancient Hindu spiritual values. These values are codified as Sanatana Dharma. The western world is studying our ancient scripture and decoding it to enhance their overall knowledge.

"During his initial days (early 70s’) in Indian politics, when Dr. Swamy called for denouncing the Soviet Union economic model and propagated an open market economy & Swadeshi Plan, the then PM Indira Gandhi called it ‘dangerous’ because “it is much like a Santa Claus.” Much Later, in 1991 Dr. Swamy's blueprint helped PM PV Narasimha Rao implement Economic reforms and opened up the Indian markets.

"Dr. Swamy strongly advocates Integral Humanism, among the guiding precepts of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Economic policy presented by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya."

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was murdered in a first class compartment of a train near Delhi while travelling, during the first tenure of the then PM Indira Gandhi, before 1971. His murder remains unsolved. He was only the second of the leaders of non-congress, non-leftist parties with values rooted in India, first being Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, to die of causes other than illness or old age, in prime of life and political career. There have been many, since then. 

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"Referred to as the One-Man Army, he is a maverick, and his precisely guided missiles are always on target. He has the distinction of ousting two Governments at the centre - one which was the Indira Gandhi goovrtnmrnt, in 1977, which was dictatorial, Anti-democratic and declared Emergency and curbed fundamental rights. He went underground and fought for restoring Democracy. Later, most recently in 2014, he is credited with exposing the UPA Regime’s corruption with his legal acumen and the ruling party lost the election.

"1. Daring act during Emergency in 1975: The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had imposed a state of Emergency in India in the mid-1975. Arrest warrants were issued against many including Swamy. However, he managed to escape from India and flew to Colombo and onward to United States of America. Who would dare to step-in to the Parliament on a working day, if he has an arrest warrant against his name? Well, Dr. Subramanian Swamy did just that. On 10th August 1976 it took everyone by surprise in the House and once again, donning the disguise of a Sardar (Sikh) he managed to flee India.

"2. Access to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra: It is not a hidden fact that Swamy’s relations with officials on foreign land have been rock-solid despite drawing criticism within the country. It was Swamy’s effort in 1981 that he managed for the Hindu devotees to get an access for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. His meeting with the then China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping normalized the issue, and the pilgrimage route was re-opened."

That alone should get him a place in India's heart! But there's more. 

Much, much more. 

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"3. Brainchild of Economic reforms in 1991: Dr. Subramanian Swamy was a member of Planning Commission and Union minister of Commerce, Law and Justice during the period of 1990-91. Not many know that the blueprint of the landmark economic reforms was prepared by Swamy and not Manmohan Singh. Swamy prepared it under the prime ministership of Chandra Shekhar Singh, but Manmohan Singh only carried it out as a Finance Minister during PV Narasimha Rao’s prime ministership. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has acknowledged Dr. Swamy ‘s contribution in preparing the Economic blueprint for implementation."

Sanjaya Baru credits the two erstwhile PMs, mentioned above, but not Dr Subramanian Swamy, in this context. 

This omission brings him discredit, more than anything else, so far. 

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"4. The drama by Sonia Gandhi sacrificing PM’s post – busted! It was widely propagated by a section of media that Sonia Gandhi had sacrificed the post of Prime Minister, but it was not the truth. Congress President Sonia President after winning the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections had put forward her name to President APJ Abdul Kalam, to be the next Prime Minister of India, with a letter of support signed by the party MP’s. But it was Subramanian Swamy’s letter to President that made Kalam persuade Sonia Gandhi to not make her a Prime Minister. However, the former President has refuted the claims, but Swamy has challenged the former President’s version."

Whatever his credit otherwise, this certainly diminishes the late ex-president. 

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"5. Electronic Voting Machines’ (EVM) fraud: Dr. Subramanian Swamy demanded an independent committee should be appointed to investigate the authenticity and security of EVMs as they are tamper prone. Swamy gave the examples of how the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and Netherlands have abandoned the method and have resorted to paper-ballot system. It was because of Swamy’s efforts that Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was introduced in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

"6. Exposing the 2G Scam: Everyone knows that the 2G Scam under UPA-regime caused a loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crores to the national exchequer as per a CAG report. Dr. Subramanian Swamy was the first person to write to PM Manmohan Singh seeking permission to prosecute the then Telecom Minister A. Raja and asked the CBI to come out with a detailed report on the matter. Manmohan Singh paid no heed to it and consequently Swamy had to file a case himself in the Supreme Court. And the rest, as they say is history.

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"7. The Airlines scam in India’s Aviation sector after the 2G license cancellation by SC was also challenged by Dr. Swamy in SC. There is a close link between 2G Scam and the Airline Scam. One in particular, is Indian Airlines selling its stake to a Middle East Airlines funded by dubious anti-national forces. Also, permission to allow two JV Airlines to a particular corporate who had initiated Aviation business in India in the late 1940s; thereafter its nationalisation vowed never to enter this sector. This deal is viewed as compensating the losses (BRIBE GIVEN TO PRECURE 2G LICENCES ILLEGALLY) incurred due to 2G License cancellation by SC.

"8. Challenging the Madras High Court in Nataraja Temple case: Dr. Subramanian Swamy filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court order. Madras High Court had ruled that the administration of the Nataraja Temple should be handed over to then Tamil Nadu government in 2009. The case eventually was ruled in favour of Swamy. (Not many know that Swamy is a lawyer by practice and not degree.)

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"9. Taking the Gandhis’ head-on in National Herald Case: Known fondly for his one-man army tactics, Subramanian Swamy has taken on the Gandhi family by himself for years now. Swamy has accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes and Motilal Vohra in the funds embezzlement case (National Herald Case). Swamy accused the Gandhis of setting up another company named Young Indian to pay the debt using Congress’ party funds. Now the matter is in Delhi sessions court with Sonia-Rahul Gandhi and other Congress members appearing as accused, out on bail. The charges will be framed very shortly. But for now, not letting Sonia Gandhi escape away in National Herald remains the topmost priority.

"10. National Hindu Renaissance: The next mission on Subramanian Swamy’s agenda is to bring a National Hindu Renaissance into force. His ideology of uniting the majority (Hindu) votes and dividing the minority (Muslim) votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections provided rich dividends for the saffron party. However, bringing a renaissance in India remains his top priority now. The latest PT (Patriotic Tweeples) and Virat Hindustan Sangam’ initiative is a small indicator to it. Implementing the Uniform Civil Code and scrapping Article 370, Building Ram Mandir at Ayodhya by 2016 -17 are the other priorities.

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"11. Successfully saved Ram Sethu being commercially exploited and damaged, destroyed by UPA Congress, DMK Govt during 2005. He single-handedly fought the case in the Supreme Court (SC) and won a favourable judgement. In the process, Ram Sethu is going to be declared as a National Heritage site of historical importance.

"12. The high-profile JJ, CM – TN, disproportionate assets case, in which she had to go to jail is Dr. Swamy’s fight against corruption and he is the first petitioner in the case. At present, the matter is in the SC and a final verdict is expected next month."

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January 18, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Jun 25 – Shaktikanta Das and his role in NH cases 

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Here, author returns to accusing Arun Jaitley, again without evidence provided for benefit of the reader. 

It's unclear why, either way. 

"While Subramanian Swamy tweeted about the Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das for his links with former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Das was a “disciplined” officer, rebutting Swamy. The tussle between Swamy and this powerful bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry goes back a long way."

Considering that the case finally broke only after UPA was out of power and a BJP led by PM Modi began its tenure, and that Arun Jaitley was very much part of the cabinet in the government in its first run, and only out in the second after 2019 due to his deteriorating health - he expired soon thereafter - its hard to imagine why, either the opposition after 2014 or Lutyens media, having taken every opportunity to abuse and lie against the government, would not at the very least name Arun Jaitley, in either this or the other - NDTV - context of humongous embezzlement, as this author does repeatedly, if there were a shred of truth, or any factual evidence, to support any of it. 

Why would the opposition after 2014, or the Lutyens cabal, be silent on this opportunity to shame the Modi government, and instead go on with false accusations, and to cast casteist and other unseemly slurs - based on lack of family wealth and status - instead? 

So one must wonder, does author have a personal grudge against the since expired ex-minister, late Arun Jaitley? 

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"Swamy started attacking Das for his role in Aircel Maxis case to protect Chidambaram. Those days Das was the Revenue Secretary. Enforcement Directorate (ED) comes under the Revenue Secretary. In January 2014, the then Finance Minister moved out Rajeshwar Singh, Enforcement Directorate’s Deputy Director and Investigation Officer of 2G and Aircel-Maxis cases. As Investigating Officer Singh was directly reporting to Supreme Court’s 2G Bench, which was monitoring these high-profile cases. Chidambaram was waiting for the retirement of Justice G S Singhvi in December 2013. As Singhvi was a tough judge, Chidambaram was well-aware of the repercussions of changing an Investigating Officer.

"Since 1990, several courts have given strong directions to the Government for not changing the Investigating Officers in sensitive cases till the end of the trial. Within days of Justice Singhvi’s exit, Chidambaram removed the non-pliant officer Rajeshwar Singh from the ED, despite Singh being recommended by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for absorption. This was an unprecedented action on part of the Finance Ministry. The officer joined the ED from Uttar Pradesh Police service on deputation and UPSC recommended his permanent absorption in ED.

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"Swamy challenged Finance Ministry’s move. Though Supreme Court ordered Rajeshwar Singh’s re-instatement in the ED in April 2014, the order was not implemented. When the new Government came, Swamy again approached the Supreme Court in October 2014 about the inaction on part of the Finance Ministry in re-instating Rajeshwar Singh[22]. Was Chidambaram controlling the Finance Ministry through pliant officers? That time CBI and ED’s Advocate was K K Venugopal in 2G related matters. Venugopal strongly objected to Finance Ministry’s dubious moves against Supreme Court appointed Investigating Officers.

"A day before the arguments were to commence, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das changed K K Venugopal and fielded Nageswara Rao as ED’s Advocate[23]. Nageswara Rao was then an Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) appointed by the UPA and is currently a judge in the Supreme Court.

"Nageswara Rao under the instructions of Revenue Department told the Supreme Court in September 2014 that all the probe in Aircel Maxis case by ED is over and that there was no need for maintaining the Investigating Officer Rajeshwar Singh. Swamy blasted Rao in the Court. K K Venugopal also took Finance Ministry to task for its distortions in the Court. The Supreme Court passed a stern direction to Ministry to absorb Rajeshwar Singh in three working days slamming the Finance Ministry[24].

"Even after Supreme Court’s direction, Revenue Department went ahead with a service case against Rajeshwar Singh’s absorption by UPSC. In all legal forums Finance Ministry lost the case including Central Administrative Tribunal and the Delhi High Court[25]. Was this punishment to Rajeshwar Singh for raiding Chidambaram’s son Karti and his companies in Aircel Maxis case? Even today, Finance Ministry’s appeal is pending before Supreme Court in Service Case for Delhi High Court ratifying CAT’s order to permanently absorb the officer in ED. Was Das delaying due promotions to Rajeshwar Singh by conducting a service case?

"So, when the Finance Minister gives a certificate to Shaktikanta Das as a “disciplined officer”, it opens it up for interpretation of what constitutes being “disciplined”[26].

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"During the period when Das was Revenue Secretary, the ED under him in mid-2015 even tried to block the probe in the National Herald case. After the trial court found prima-facie evidence, Swamy filed petition to the ED for registering cases for money laundering in National Herald deals. In those days ED’s chief was Rajan Katoch, a UPA appointee and a cousin of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Both Das and Katoch tried to scuttle the case. After Swamy’s complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi6, Katoch was shunted out from ED and Shaktikanta Das was shifted out from the powerful Revenue Department which controls ED, Income Tax, Customs, and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

"Some thoughts to ponder: 

"1. Is Dr. Swamy justified in his observations of Shaktikanta Das? 

"2. Why is Mr. Jaitley being so sensitive to a tweet by Dr. Swamy? 

"3. Is the NDA government finding it difficult to get things moving thanks to such “disciplined” officers?"

Good questions, there. 

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January 18, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Aug 12 – Swamy urges Urban Development Ministry to take over Herald House 

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"Sharpening his attack in the National Herald case, Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a petition to the Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu demanding taking over the controversial Herald House building. In his petition, he said that the Herald House was appropriated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi by floating a private company called Young Indian and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which allotted the land should take back the entire building.

"DDA allotted land to Associated Journal Limited (AJL) for printing and publishing of National Herald and other two newspapers in Hindi and Urdu. The Herald House in the Delhi’s prime land in the ITO Press Enclave is worth over Rs.1000 crores ($150 million). AJL got the land from DDA at a very cheap rate for newspaper publication activity and it has stopped the publication activity in 2008. Now AJL is taken over by Sonia and Rahul by floating a company called Young Indian in 2010 in questionable ways to take procession of this property and building, said Swamy. ... "

And there's the clear evidence of an intentionally perpetrated financial crime, by whatever name. 

"“DDA now has the right to enter the said premises and take it over because it is being misused by Young Indian for collecting rent at exorbitant rates by letting out the premises to a number of corporate parties and the Passport of MEA,” said Swamy. The passport Seva Kendra is paying around more than Rs. 80 lakhs ($120,000) as rent per month to the controllers of Herald House.

"Swamy said that from the trial court to Supreme Court has ratified the prima facie cheating and fraud in the case, the DDA should take over the building as the land belong to it. AJL lost all right to continue in the building from 2008, as when they stopped the publishing activity, he said.

"“Many also say that the AJL properties in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai have been taken over by the respective state governments since my complaint case was filed in the Patiala House Courts. Hence, I urge you to do the same thing with the Herald House on the Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi,” said Swamy.

"Next hearing of the National Herald case in the trial court is on August 20. Swamy said he will file a fresh petition for seeking documents from the Congress party, AJL and other government departments."

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January 18, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Aug 27 – Court issued notice to Sonia, Rahul on Swamy’s plea for summoning documents 

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"Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Saturday issued notices to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Vice President Rahul Gandhi and other five accused in National Herald case to respond to a fresh plea of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking certain documents from the Congress party, Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) and Government departments. Magistrate directed all the accused to respond within two weeks and the case was fixed for arguments on October 4.

"In his application, Swamy has sought a series of documents relating to the controversial loan given by the Congress to the AJL, the publisher of the National Herald. Swamy said in his petition that these documents are crucial for trial. He also sought documents from Income Tax and Registrar of Companies also.

"Earlier trial court had summoned documents in January and February. But Congress leaders challenged the trial court’s order in High Court citing that they were not heard before issuing summoning. All the government departments had submitted documents in sealed covers. Delhi High Court had quashed the trail court summons citing error in procedures, while allowing Swamy to file fresh applications for the documents.

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"Seeking Rs. 90 crores ($13.4 million) controversial loan documents are a nightmare for Congress party because there was no proper accounting for this transaction, which was described as dubious and a doubtful one by the trial court.

"Putting Congress party and its leadership in a fix, Swamy has sought the Income Tax returns of Congress party during 2010-2011, the scam period. It is well known that these documents would create problems for the accused as it would puncture the Congress claims on giving loans for the newspaper publishing company. Besides political parties giving loan for commercial activity it is illegal as per Income Tax and Election Commission norms.

"Moreover, Sonia and Rahul would be in a spot of bother to explain the curious accounting by their company Young Indian’s takeover of Congress party’s loan claim of Rs.90 crores ($13.4 million) to AJL for just Rs.50 lakhs ($74,000)."

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January 18, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Sep 06 – Would reviving newspapers help the Gandhis in the NH Case? 

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"MR Venkatesh, a noted TV Commentator, author of several books and a Chartered Accountant weighs in on the recent decision of Associated Journals Limited to renew the defunct newspapers and its effect, if any on the pending National Herald case (NHCase) against the Gandhis and others.

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"Q: Talking about the National Herald scam Associated Journal (AJL), recently announced that National Herald and other related publications will be resumed under Neelam Mishra. How does this affect the NH case if at all? 

"M R Venkatesh: See this NH case has nothing to do with what they publish, or they don't publish. They didn't publish was one of our last arguments and that has nothing to do with the facts and matters of the case as Dr. Swamy argued before the courts. As far as I am concerned, this will not weigh on the minds of the judge and they should not, also because this is irrelevant to the case. Now, how you put a stolen asset to use is the least of the problem of the Court. The Court is worried whether an asset was obtained in an illegal way or not that is the challenge before the Court.  

"The court agrees to what Dr. Swamy has suggested and believes that these assets of National Herald or AJL were acquired illegally, then obviously it has to penalize those people who are arraigned as accused number 126 in a manner known to law. Supposing, the Court feels that they have not done anything wrong, it is going to allow them to go scot-free. Now, this publication may be of irrelevance, it's irrelevant news to the Court because it doesn't alter the factum of the case and to that extent, this has to be ignored.

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"Q: So, is this just a gimmick to try and fool the people to put a spin on the case? And what would be the counter-narrative to this?  

"M R Venkatesh: See the fact of the matter is that this has been given wide publicity in the local media, suggests that obviously that an attempted spin was given. It is not a spin, it is an attempted spin, let me make it very clear. To suggest that, here are a set of people who honestly want to revive the National Herald and hence, they are hiring even so and so and they are starting the production of this paper on a daily basis or a weekly basis. But how does it alter the fact that this is an asset that you have acquired illegally? So, obviously, this spin will be there, and this spin comes out because you don't have any legal answer to the queries post by Dr. Swamy. So, unless that is settled, all these are definitely not going to impress anyone much less the courts and the courts are going to be focused on only one thing whether the assets were accused are quite legally or otherwise. And if legally they are going to allow people to go scot-free and if it is illegal and then they are going to be punished.

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"Q:  Can a PIL be filed to stay this development, quoting the ongoing litigation or can this be challenged in the current litigation itself?  

"M R Venkatesh: No, frankly, I don't know, because I am only there as a witness, I don't know what Dr. Swamy is thinking about this particular matter. As far as I am concerned, all the documents which are required in terms of establishing the prima facie case were provided to the court and Dr. Swamy has again gone to the Court seeking some extra documents, which I understand, he wants both of us parties namely the Congress and the National Herald to provide him so that he can buttress his point and also establish as evidence as to what went wrong in the entire transaction. Now in this matter, I am sure Dr. Swamy is not going to waste time, as to who becomes the editor of a particular journal or not, this is the least of his problems, but I am sure it is eminently possible that probably that there are certain lawyers who will do this for a very small fee in Delhi. And they probably get motivation from Congress and I'm sure the viewer can understand what I mean, that they would go to the Court and probably even get it dismissed and then hail it as a moral victory before they come to the court. I'm sure that such buffoonery doesn't impress the Court too often and with such strong legal team that Dr. Swamy has and putting in the points very succinctly in the Court. I'm sure he will be able to impress upon, whether the journal is revived or not is irrelevant and let us focus only on the scheme of things."

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January 18, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Sep 18 – Sonia and Rahul object to summoning of documents in NH case. 

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"Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the other five accused in the National Herald case objected to Subramanian Swamy’s petition to summon new documents. In a six-page reply submitted before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, the Congress leaders accused that Swamy is on a “fishing and roving” inquiry and is attempting to open a new case against them with these documents."

Why object, if their affairs were clean, legitimate and above board? 

"Sonia and Rahul specifically objected to Swamy’s demand of summoning Congress party’s Income Tax statements of 2010-2011 the period during which the scam occurred. “That the application preferred by the Complainant (Swamy) under Sec 91 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is vague and devoid of material particulars and is ‘in the nature of fishing and roving enquiry’ which is not permissible in the law. Courts have time and again deprecated attempts to use Sec 91 CrPC for such a roving and fishing inquiry,” said the joint reply filed by Sonia, Rahul, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Young Indian, the controversial company floated by Sonia and Rahul to dubiously acquire National Herald publishing company Associated Journals Limited."

Are criminals allowed to use court remarks to that effect, in their refusal to provide law with search of premises, which, until evidence is found, is tantamount to fishing? 

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"Accusing Swamy of seeking so many documents, the Congress leaders said that Swamy’s intention is to create a new case against them with these new documents. They said Swamy is going beyond the scope of enquiry and not divulging the need of the new documents."

Aren't Congress and AJIL public institutions? Why aren't their accounts and other such matters required to be available publicly, on internet? 

Secrecy, in particular, smacks of criminality. 

"“That the fundamental issue for consideration while going into the merits of the application revolves around the fact as to whether at this stage the complainant can go beyond the scope of enquiry in the complaint under the trial. The Complainant through this application is seeking to call for documents without divulging their necessity and desirability on the basis of the allegations made by him in his complaint. Thereby the complainant seeks to access documents in an attempt to make out a new case. The endeavour of the Complainant of not providing a list of witness also shows the malafide nature of the current petition,” said the Congress leaders."

Again, if Congress and AJIL were clean, why demand list of witnesses, except to browbeat, intimidate, blackmail, threaten, or worse, finish them off before they could appear? 

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"Swamy’s demand to summon the accounts and Income Tax statement of Congress party during the scam period (2010-2011) is vehemently objected by the Congress top brass. This Income Tax statement of the scam period is expected to be boomerang on Sonia, Rahul, Vora who always claimed that the Congress party’s transfer of Rs. 90 crores ($13.41 million) to Associated Journals Limited. Moreover, Income Tax authorities have unearthed dubious companies based in Kolkata transferring money to Congress as donation, which ultimately reached in Young Indian, which is totally illegal. Congress leaders said as Congress party is not an accused; its accounts should not be called. The following tweets by noted Political Commentator, Accountant and Journalist S Gurumurthy shed light on the sources of funding (see Figure 34, Figure 35).

"“That the complainant has sought documents from the Income Tax authorities regarding parties, which are not accused in the matter. In such a scenario, the Income Tax Act, 1961 contains Sections pertaining to confidentiality of Income Tax Records which prohibit disclosure of information of the assesses,” said Congress leaders citing several judgments on confidently of Income Tax statements."

Surely, if the nation understood that congress objects to Income Tax records of the party being disclosed, the nation will understand that the Congress party is hiding criminal financial transactions? 

Was that why congress has been reduced, from the humongous majority of Rajeev Gandhi's win, to a party with so few seats in parliament that it no longer qualifies even as opposition? 

And that Rahul Gandhi's family heritage, the Amethi parliament seat, was lost in 2019 to BJP? 

Perhaps the last bit was mostly on merit, though, since Rahul Gandhi had kept the seat in 2014 by a paltry margin of about 4,000 - unlike his great-grandfather whose sole opponent, always, got exactly one vote. (He - Kartar Singh Thatte - repeatedly fought the election, against the then PM, who was thereby very displeased, as a matter of principle, for democracy.) 

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"The Congress leaders also objected to summoning of documents from the Registrar of Companies (RoC). They said Swamy had already produced these documents. “To now again summon documents from RoC falls within the parameter of a fishing and roving enquiry, as the case has already been set up by the Complainant during the course of recording of pre-summoning evidence.” 

"The arguments on this matter of summoning documents are scheduled in the trial court on October 4. Trial court’s earlier order of summoning documents were challenged by the Congress leaders in Delhi High Court, citing that they were not heard. The High Court had quashed the order and documents were returned to the trial court, giving permission to Swamy to file a fresh application."

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January 18, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Nov 08 – ED summons Motilal Vora in Panchkula land deals 

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"The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government is slowly but steadily proceeding against illegalities associated with the Congress leadership in the National Herald case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday summoned Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora in connection with its money laundering probe into irregularities in the allotment of a plot to Associated Journal Limited (AJL), publisher of the National Herald newspaper, in Haryana's Panchkula in 2005.

"Vora, the keeper of Congress accounts has been summoned under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for questioning on November 22. ED officials said Vora has been summoned by the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case in his capacity as the Chairman and Managing Director of the AJL.

"ED has already booked former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AJL officials and others on charges of alleged money laundering, taking cognisance of a Haryana State Vigilance Bureau FIR. The Vigilance Bureau had registered a case of cheating and corruption against Hooda and four officials who were in Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) for allegedly re-allotting a plot to AJL in Panchkula in 2005.

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"Meanwhile, the main National Herald case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is posted for arguments on December 9. Congress has vehemently objected to Swamy’s demand for summoning of documents from various government departments. He also demanded the Congress party to submit its balance sheets and accounts during the scam period of 2010-2011. On December 9, Swamy will continue his arguments, rebutting the Congress versions."

Author says something puzzling here. 

"ED and CBI have not acted on Swamy’s complaints against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi for breach of public trust, manipulations, cheating violating the provisions of government properties for newspaper publications and capturing the assets of AJL etc."

Is author serious, in saying "ED and CBI have not acted on Swamy’s complaints  ... "? 

Why didn't ’t they? 

Lutyens effect? 

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"Background of Panchkula land deal 

"The vigilance case was registered under various IPC sections, including criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating, criminal conspiracy and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, against Hooda, the then HUDA chairman, an ex-officio post held by him as the CM, and four other top officials of HUDA on May 5 this year.

"The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982. After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, then Haryana Vikas Party government led by Bansi Lal took back its possession. It was re-allotted to AJL after the Congress leader came to power in 2005.

"The Vigilance Bureau had alleged that the act by the then HUDA chairman and the officials had caused a huge financial loss to HUDA as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of being allotted again to AJL.

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"A separate FIR had been lodged in December last year by the state vigilance bureau against Hooda as the then chairman and chief administrator of HUDA for alleged irregularities in allotment of industrial plots in Panchkula three years ago. 

"There are similar kinds of irregularities in the allotments of land for National Herald in Mumbai, Bhopal, Indore. Maharashtra State Government has already initiated action on the irregularities and capturing of Mumbai land for publication of National Herald newspaper. On August 10th, Senior BJP leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy had written to Shri. Venkaiah Naidu asking him to direct Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to re-possess Herald House, located in a prime location in New Delhi[27]."

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January 18, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Nov 15 – National Herald website launch a cover-up to beg mercy from the Court? 

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"Congress leadership has launched a website of the now defunct National Herald newspaper on November 14 – birth anniversary of founder Jawaharlal Nehru. The website http://www.nationalheraldindia.com/ is claimed as the digital edition of the paper and is seen as an attempt to beg mercy from the trial court in BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s watertight case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi with fraud, cheating and financial misappropriation charges. In this day and age, it is so easy to create a website and put a name on it and claim that it is newspaper which is what AJL appears to have done.

"“Associated Journals Limited“, a company founded in 1937 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, has launched the beta version of its English Website – www.nationalheraldindia.com starting today, November 14, 2016.

"“In keeping with the changing times, the newspaper group resumes phased publication as a multi-media outlet with a strong digital presence. The digital website will follow the same editorial vision and principles as that of our Founder, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It remains committed to furthering the values it has always cherished and the best values of the Freedom Movement – that of building a modern, democratic, just, equitable, liberal and socially harmonious nation, free of sectarian strife,” said the AICC Press Release[28].

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"Here the question is the role of Young Indian, a private company floated by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with 38 percent of shares each to dubiously acquire the more than 1000 shareholders owned public limited company Associated Journals Ltd.’s (AJL) assets spanning Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Panchkula, Bhopal and Indore. Another issue is the Congress party’s illegal grant of loan of Rs.90 crores ($13.53 million) to AJL and valuing this loan for just Rs.50 lakhs ($74,000) by Young Indian and dubiously taking over more than 99 percent of the shares of AJL1. Questions have been asked if Congress even gave the loan to AJL or was it from a set of dubious shell companies based in Kolkata[29].

"National Herald newspaper became defunct in 2008 and Sonia and Rahul’s newly floated company took over the publishing company AJL in a covert manner in December 2010. When Subramanian Swamy exposed the fraud in November 2012, Congress leadership was parroting that they would soon resume the publishing of the newspaper. The entire lands across India were allotted to AJL by government at throw away prices to publish the newspaper and if the newspaper publishing activity is not doing, the government reserves the right to take back the land.

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"Swamy had already petitioned to Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu to take back the 1000-crores worth land and building in Delhi[30], citing no newspaper publishing is taking place for the past 8 years. He also sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe on the misappropriation of the public property by Sonia and Rahul. Maharashtra and Haryana Governments have already started action on taking back the lands allotted to National Herald.

"Somehow, even after Delhi High Court and Supreme Court ratified the prima facie case of cheating, fraud and financial misappropriation found by the trial court, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not yet acted. Next hearing of the case is on December 9, where Swamy is expected to resume his arguments for the need of documents from Government and submission of balance sheets and accounts of Congress party during the scam period 2010-2011.

"The launching of the website and claiming it as a digital edition is seen as a cover up by Congress leaders to beg mercy in court during the trial. A crime that has already been committed cannot be condoned and this launch of website is nothing but an argument in court for defending the indefensible crime."

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January 18, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Dec 09 – Blast from the Past: Patel - Nehru letters exposes the frauds in fund collection for NH 

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"The series of letters between Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru in May 1950 exposes that Nehru and his family members used National Herald (NH) as a tool for collecting money for awarding government contracts, even from undesirable elements also. Five such letters from the book – Sardar Patel’s Correspondence shows that Nehru was warned by Patel from accepting money rampantly by misusing the government machinery.

"On May 5, 1950, Patel warned Nehru about NH, saying it accepted money of more than Rs.75,000 from two undesirable persons belong to Himalayan Airways, which illegally bagged contract for night air mail service from government, over the objections of the Indian Air Force. In that letter the Home Minister Patel cautioned the Prime Minister that NH also accepted money from one dubious businessman Akhani for the night mail contracts for his flight company.

"Patel said that Akhani also collected money from “maneuvering” firms like Tatas and the Air Services of India. Akhani was then facing cheating charges in many courts for defrauding banks. Patel also cautioned Nehru about Union Minister Ahmed Kidwai was misusing office and collecting money for National Herald from Lucknow based dubious businessmen like JP Srivastava.

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"That day itself Nehru replied to Patel in a wishy-washy manner, pacifying Patel saying that he had asked his son-in-law and General Manager of National Herald, Feroze Gandhi to inquire about the illegal money collection. Seeing Nehru’s attitude Patel shot back next day on May 6, rebutting his claims. The Home Minister reiterated to Prime Minister, urged him to desist the practice of money collection in the name of National Herald from dubious persons for granting contracts from Government. All the five letters between Patel and Nehru are published at the end of this article, exposing the frauds in fund collection for the National Herald by Nehru family.

"Nehru replied back on May 6 trying to calm him, while not answering his specific findings of illegal funding. At one point Nehru claimed that for the past three years he has not had any links with National Herald and Feroze Gandhi and one Mridula is entrusted with raising funds for the newspaper. On some cases, Nehru admitted that mistakes happened."

Not Mrs Sarabhai? 

"Seeing Nehru’s style of protecting the fund collectors, Patel wrote the last letter on May 10, 1950. In his letter, Patel showed displeasure about Nehru protecting such dubious payments and reiterated that as Home Minister, he has found the disingenuity of such payments and persons associating with NH funding troubling."

Author gives photographs of the above-mentioned letters. 

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January 18, 2023 - January 18, 2023. 

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Dec 09 – Court to decide on summoning documents in NH case on Dec 26 

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"Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Friday is set to pronounce the order on December 26th on the issue of summoning documents from Government and Congress party in the National Herald case. Hearing the heated arguments between a battery of lawyers of Congress party and petitioner Subramanian Swamy for more than 90 minutes on the need of the documents in the politically sensitive case, Magistrate Lovleen declared pronouncement of orders on this regard.

"Lawyers of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi argued that Swamy was going on a “fishing and roving” exercise and that the Court should not allow his petition to summon documents from Income Tax and the Registrar of Companies. Advocates R S Cheema, Ramesh Gupta and Rebecca John vehemently objected to Swamy’s arguments. Swamy sought mainly documents related to the controversial Rs.90 crores transaction from Congress party and Associated Journals.

"The Courtroom witnessed heated exchanges between Swamy and Congress lawyers. Many a time, Congress lawyers said that the BJP leader was trying to create new cases against them from after getting new documents and his intentions were malicious. Swamy countered the arguments that accused cannot dictate what all the documents to be sought and urged the need for the documents which would expose the money laundering and illegalities in the National Herald scam.

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"Congress lawyers objected many times when Swamy provoked them on the contents of the Congress party’s balance sheets and account statements during the scam period in 2010-2011. Swamy provoked them by distributing the controversial letters between Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru during 1950 about the dubious collection of funds from controversial businessmen[31]. “Everyday Swamy is bringing some documents. This should not be permitted,” said Congress lawyers.

"“This is not the part of the case. I just wanted to show the history and the nature of frauds happening for a long time with this organization,” Swamy retorted, and handed over the copy of the letters to the Magistrate.

"Earlier in January, the Court allowed Swamy’s petition and all government documents submitted documents in a sealed cover. Congress leaders challenged trial court’s decision citing that they were not heard before passing the orders. Delhi High Court observed that trial court made an error by not hearing the arguments of the accused in this regard."

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January 18, 2023 - January 19, 2023. 

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Dec 26 – Court dismisses Swamy’s petition for docs from Govt & Congress. Directs to file appropriate petition   

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"The Metropolitan Magistrate on Monday dismissed BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition to seek documents from government departments and the Congress in the National Herald case. However, the Court asked Swamy to file the list of witnesses and gave him opportunity to file “appropriate” petition for summoning documents again during the trial, while terming his dismissed petition as “fishing inquiry” and trying to widen the scope of the case.

"“In the interests of justice, last opportunity is granted to the complainant to file the list of witnesses as undertaking by him previously and also to move appropriate application for summoning of records, if he so desires,” said the Order issued by Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen. According to this one-page order on Monday’s proceedings, Swamy has to submit reasons for each document he seeks during the trial.

"Swamy has sought more than 100 documents from the Income Tax department, Registrar of Companies, Congress and National Herald publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The 24-page Order, observed that Swamy “seemed to enlarge the scope of present proceedings.” Swamy termed this order as “perverse” one and said he will appeal.

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"Congress’s main objection was to seek the party’s balance sheet and accounts during scam period (2010-2011) when the new company Young Indian was floated by Sonia and Rahul and payments of Rs.90 crores was given from party to AJL.

"The Magistrate has asked Swamy to provide a list of witnesses by February 10, the next hearing of the case. The pre-charge evidence will start on this day and Swamy is supposed to file the list of witnesses and revised petition for specific documents."

"Earlier in January, the trial court had ordered for summoning of documents from government departments and the Congress. Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes challenged this decision in the Delhi High Court. The High Court had quashed the trial court’s order, citing the error in procedure for not seeking reply from the accused."

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January 19, 2023 - January 19, 2023. 

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2017 

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Apr 06 – CBI files FIR against Hooda and AJL in NH case – Sends shivers to Sonia and Rahul 

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"With the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filing a First Information Report (FIR) against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and National Herald publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the shock waves have reached Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. CBI has registered an FIR against Hooda, AJL and officials for gross illegalities in the allotment of land in Panchkula for the erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company.

"The probe was first started by the Vigilance department of Haryana and subsequently handed over to the CBI. The reasons cited for the state government for handing over the case to CBI will come as a nightmare for Sonia and Rahul. “The matter relating to Associated Journals Limited in Delhi and Mumbai is already being looked into at national level. Keeping in view that persons in high places are involved and in view of the complexities involved in the matter as well as the fact that the allottee Company and its office bearers have their offices/ residence across many States, which will be beyond the working of State Vigilance Bureau, it has been decided to get the matter investigated from the Central Bureau of Investigation for a free and fair investigation,” said the Haryana Government’s letter to Centre, attached with the CBI’s 13-page FIR. The FIR is published at the end of the article.

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"In the present case, Hooda and officials are charged for conspiracy and misuse of power along with AJL. The present Directors of the AJL are Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda[32]. All these persons are the accused along with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s main National Herald case before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate’s court.

"All the AJL Directors along with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are the Directors of the controversial company Young Indian, which acquired the Rs.5000 crores ($774 million) worth assets of public limited company AJL. Already Swamy had filed complaints with CBI and ED for registering case in National Herald under Prevention of Corruption Act, and misappropriation of land in Delhi and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Swamy’s allegations were prima facie ratified from the trial court to the Supreme Court. Now the CBI action for illegalities in allotment of Panchkula land makes the bigger crime in Delhi an open and shut case, where Sonia and Rahul are directly involved.

"The million-dollar question is when will the CBI, ED and Income Tax take their toughest call?"

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January 19, 2023 - January 19, 2023. 

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Apr 21 – Enforcement Directorate questions Vora and Hooda in NH case 

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"The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned All India Congress Committee (AICC) Treasurer Motilal Vora and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with the money laundering in the National Herald case. ED sleuths questioned Vora at his residence on April 18 in Delhi. Hooda was questioned at ED’s Chandigarh office. Both were interrogated by ED sleuths, focusing on the dubious land allotment in Panchkula to the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

"The questioning of Vora has sent shock waves to the Congress top leadership. Vora is Sonia’s treasurer from 1998, after she ascended to the President-ship of the Party. According to ED officials, they went to his house for questioning due to his illness. ED’s action came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Hooda and AJL. Vora is the Chairman and Managing Director of AJL for the past two decades. State Vigilance found several violations in the allotment of Panchkula plot in 2005 when Hooda was the Chief Minister of Haryana.

"Apart from Hooda and AJL, the CBI FIR named the then Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) officials[33]. Three IAS officers namely S S Dhillon, Vineet Garg and the recently retired Shakuntala Jakhu were named in the FIR."

Author gives a tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy as a photograph. 

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"Meanwhile, the next hearing of Subramanian Swamy’s case in National Herald matter is scheduled for April 22 before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court. The case is pending before arguments on Swamy’s petition to summon witnesses such as some officials from Income Tax, Registrar of Companies and Urban Development Ministry. He also demanded summoning AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi in the case citing that the Congress leader was the first person who admitted from the party that they had paid Rs.90 crores ($13.9 million) to AJL, which is a clear violation of laws.

"Meanwhile, like the Haryana Government, Maharashtra Government too has ordered a probe on the violations and illegal sale of prime plot allotted in Bandra.

"It is expected that CBI and ED’s actions would create an interesting turn of events in Swamy’s case which mainly targets Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Other persons accused in the case are Sonia’s trusted men Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, and Sam Pitroda.

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"Swamy has already filed complaints to CBI, ED, and Urban Development Ministry for registering case for grabbing the plot and building in Delhi and money trail of Rs.90 crores ($13.9 million) from Congress party to AJL, which is acquired by Sonia and Rahul by floating a new private company called Young Indian. 

"Meanwhile, like the Haryana Government, Maharashtra Government too has ordered a probe on the violations and illegal sale of prime plot allotted in Bandra. Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis has appointed Additional Chief Secretary Gautam Chatterjee to probe into the land grabbing and illegal sale of Bandra property and the officer had submitted the report detailing the violations to the State Government in Feb 2016[34]. Till date the state government has not taken any action.  

"Similarly, Income Tax Department has also not finished its probe on money trail from Congress to the AJL."

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January 19, 2023 - January 19, 2023. 

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Apr 22 – Swamy files application to summon Hooda. Congress-objects 

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"Further tightening the screws in the National Herald case, Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy filed application on Saturday for summoning former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda citing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) First Information Report (FIR)s in the Panchkula land allotment scam. Swamy’s petition was vehemently objected to by the Congress leaders’s lawyers alleging that he was purposefully widening the case and creating mischief.

"The lawyers representing Congress leaders led by R S Cheema objected to Swamy’s application. They said every time Swamy is coming with new dimensions and that the Panchkula scam has nothing to do with the main National Herald case."

Who were they trying to fool?!!!

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"Arguing before the Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, Swamy said his case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also details the land scam in Panchkula and he is proved right that government agencies have now registered an FIR on the matter. He said Hooda and accused Motilal Vora were recently questioned by the CBI and the role of Hooda has to be ascertained in his case also. Apart from Hooda, Swamy also demanded bureaucrats S S Dhillon, Vineet Garg and Shakuntala Jakhu be summoned as witness. These IAS officers were named in the FIR of CBI for conniving with Hooda and Assoicated Journal in 2005 during their tenure in Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

"Swamy’s idea is to widen the case and try to create more problems to his political opponents, said Cheema.

"Countering the Congress lawyers, Swamy said that his petition is about the land grabbing of lands allotted to National Herald newspaper in Delhi, Panchkula, Mumbai, Indore, Lucknow and Bhopal by main accused Sonia and Rahul. “Now the state agencies also found the irregularities and these persons are also part of the land grabbing,” he said. The case was adjourned to May 15 for further arguments."

Author gives another tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy, and one really wishes that the text thereof had been given in a form that could be quoted! 

"This is a strategic move by Swamy and the CBI and ED cases would strengthen his case. The Government’s action and registering FIR has proved Swamy’s main allegation of land grabbing in the name of newspaper business by Congress leadership."

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January 19, 2023 - January 19, 2023. 

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May 12 – Delhi High Court rejects Sonia & Rahul petition to quash Income Tax action 

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"The hubris filled Gandhi family’s smugness and disrespect for the laws of the country have been dealt a severe blow in the National Herald case. On Friday, the Congress leaders faced the wrath of Delhi High Court by directly approaching them, without going to Income Tax (IT), which had served them notice. 

"At one point, the Judges told the Congress leaders: “Don’t be arrogant. First go to tax officers,” when the lawyers again and again pressed them.

"The Delhi High Court declined to stay the income tax proceedings against Young Indian Pvt. Ltd. in the National Herald case, which involves, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and asked them to approach the tax authorities.

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"“We are not inclined to entertain your writ petition. It is better you withdraw it and approach the income tax assessing officer,” a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Chander Shekhar said. It also said that the company has not moved the assessing officer raising its grievances, so it should first approach the IT department and submit its documents.

"In case it is still not satisfied, the company can move the court thereafter, the bench added. At one point, the Judges told the Congress leaders: “Don’t be arrogant. First go to tax officers,” when the lawyers again and again pressed them.

"Income Tax action came after the trial court summoned Sonia, Rahul and other Congress leaders on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition.

"Sensing the mood of the bench, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Young Indian, withdrew the petition which was allowed by the court that termed it “dismissed as withdrawn.”

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"Young Indian (YI) had approached the high court seeking a direction to stay the IT proceedings and quashing of re- assessment notices issued against it with regard to the National Herald misappropriation of assets case. The company was issued notices regarding the assessment year 2011-12.

"The counsel for the Income Tax Department opposed the petition, saying the firm has not moved the assessing officer and hence its plea was not maintainable.

"Income Tax action came after the trial court summoned Sonia, Rahul and other Congress leaders on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition. The Income Tax Department sent notice to Congress party for illegally giving Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) to AJL. There is doubt if even Congress Party funded AJL as noted by Political Commentator, Accountant and Journalist S Gurumurthy shed light on the sources of funding[35].

"Swamy had accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs. 50 lakhs ($78,000), through which YI had obtained the right to recover Rs. 90.25 crores ($12.5 million) which the Associate Journals Limited (AJL) owed to the Congress party. Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are the co-accused in the case. Next hearing in the trial court is scheduled on May 15, where arguments for seeking further documents expected to continue."

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January 19, 2023 - January 19, 2023. 

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May 13 – In 2004, IT had found 5.3cr illegal payment by Congress 

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"Arecently surfaced letter from the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (IT) dept. in Lucknow proves that the Department was well aware of illegal fund flow from Congress party to National Herald publishing company 13 years ago! The IT document published at the end of this articles exposes that on December 28, 2004, the Lucknow Unit had alerted the Delhi IT unit that AJL got Rs.5.3 crores ($826,000) from Congress party illegally.

"This illegal payment from Congress party happened during the period 2001 to 2002. “During the course of assessment proceedings for AY 02-03 in the case of M/s Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL), it is found that your assessee i.e. All India Congress Committee has given an interest free loan Rs.5,30,00,000 ($826,000) during the period 1.4.2001 to 31.3.2002. This information is being passed to you for necessary action at your end,” said the Income Tax’s Lucknow Unit’s letter to New Delhi Unit titled as “Passing of Information.”

"At that time, the treasurer of Congress was Motilal Vora, who was also the Chairman of AJL. Vora became the Treasurer of the party when Sonia Gandhi captured the President-ship of the party in 1998, by unceremoniously removing Sitaram Kesri[37]. The episode, described as Toilet Gate details how the then President of the party, Sitaram Kesri was locked up in a toilet to enable Sonia to become the President of the Congress Party[38].

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"As per rules, a political party cannot give funds to a business activity. The saga of National Herald should convince anyone that Congress party has no respect for the laws of the country. The ongoing National Herald case exposes that the public limited company AJL has received Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) from Congress party to settle his dues. Mysteriously the new private limited company Young Indian, with 76 percent of shares owned by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi decided to take over the Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) worth dues of AJL at a valued price of Rs.50 lakhs ($78,000). Till date none has explained how Rs.90 crores got valued at Rs.50 lakhs. By this curious deal, AJL decided to allot 99.9 percent of its shares to Young Indian. Many of the 1000 plus shareholders of AJL who were contacted said they did not know of the fact that AJL was being sold to Young Indian! By this fraud[39], Young Indian with just five lakh share capital floated in December 2010, became the owner of AJL’s Rs.5000 crores ($779 million) worth land assets and buildings across India.

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"As the original notice is not so legible, for the benefit of the readers, the contents of the notice are shown below:

"OFFICE OF THE DY. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX R-IV 

"LUCKNOW

"DCITR-IV 

"04-09 

"28.12.2004 

"The Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax

"Circle 31(3) 

"Ayakar Bhavan 

"New Delhi 

"Sir, Sub: Passing of information – reg.

"Kindly refer to the above subject.

"During the course of assessment proceedings for AY 02-03 in the case of M/s Associated Journals Ltd., it is found that your Assessee i.e. All India Congress Committee has given an interest free loan Rs.5,30,00,000 during the period 1.4.2001 to 31.3.2002. This information is being passed to you for necessary action at your end.

"Yours faithfully 

"S/d 

"Deputy Commissioner of IT 

"Encls: As above""

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January 19, 2023 - January 19, 2023. 

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May 13 – Gandhi family’s Nemesis? 

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"Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi are in a blue funk, unable to explain their illegal takeover of the assets of the National Herald Group in 2012, by transferring its shares to a company, Young India, in which they control 76 per cent stake.

"Briefly, the rigmarole involved the party loaning Rs 90-plus crores ($12.5 million) to Associated Journals Pvt. Ltd. (AJL), owner and publisher of National Herald (English daily), Navjivan (Hindi daily), Qaumi Awaz (Urdu daily), and National Herald International Weekly, to wipe out its debts and settle employee dues after publication formally ceased in 2008. Thereafter, on April 26, 2012, Young Indian ‘extinguished’ this Rs.90 crores debt for a paltry Rs.50 lakhs while transferring AJL shares to itself. The mathematics has never been explained to this day!"

Except what in plain sight - it's cheating, nothing more or less. 

AJIL was a public company with shareholders, donations and job, namely, publications. YI is purely private and controlled by a small, semi-Indian if that, family, and they have transferred the public company to ownership by private one they control, so thay the several thousand crores worth assets of the AJIL now are owned by YI, the private company, at a cost of 50 lakh, which is less than a .001%  of value of the assets of the purchased company. 

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"The transactions were conducted in utmost secrecy, with Motilal Vora as party treasurer transferring the money to Motilal Vora as chairman cum managing director of AJL and select family loyalists in the know. Vora and party general secretary Oscar Fernandes are also shareholders in Young Indian, with 12 per cent stake each. Other Directors include family friends Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda."

Hence the stink. 

"Some persons who held shares from the time Jawaharlal Nehru launched National Herald in 1937, with funds from the public, were aghast at the development and blew the whistle, discreetly. That is how this writer came to be the first journalist to touch the story [Niticentral, 29 October 2012] at a time when it seemed that the Gandhi family could never be held accountable for any misdeed. Now, thanks to the doggedness of BJP leader, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, who took the case to court, struggled to get it admitted and followed it through, this is one act for which they will be held legally liable."

Nation must thank, too, that not everyone was gorgeous sale - nor the family smart enough to cover every possible eventuality, but, instead,  arrogant enough to think that nobody could successfully point a finger at any of them. 

Is that due to fascist DNA? Or is it worse? War criminal DNA of a nazi, as the possibility indicated by discoveries of Dr Subramanian Swamy regarding the history of the branch of the family in charge of family fortunes, after deaths of Indira Gandhi and her sons? 

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"It bears stating that Union Finance Finister Arun Jaitley’s assertion to a news channel (Aug 5, 2014) that the Congress could “simply return the loan and the matter could end,” is incorrect[40]. First, Congress did not take any loan. Rather, it was Congress that loaned a staggering Rs.90 crores ($12.5 million) to AJL, which is a commercial enterprise (even if non-viable), and this is illegal for a political party. It is shameful that the Election Commission has failed to take cognisance of this breach."

That should be Minister, not "Finister". 

"Second, AJL was set up with around 5000 shareholders. By purchasing its debt of Rs.90 crores from the Congress party, for a paltry sum of Rs.50 lakhs ($78,000), without informing any of the original shareholders or their heirs, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi indulged in an illegal activity that gave them control of real estate worth around Rs 5000 crores ($779 million). Since the story broke, many questionable property deals in the name of National Herald have come to light."

Chutzpah of daylight robbery. 

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"On Friday, 12 May 2017, the Delhi High Court rejected Young Indian Private Ltd’s petition to quash Income Tax Department proceedings against it and directed the company to first approach the Income Tax assessing officer and submit all required documents[41].

"Young Indian (Registration no. 55-210686) is a private company registered under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. Its stated aim is to inculcate “in the mind of India’s youth, commitment to the ideal of a democratic and secular society for its entire populace without any distinction as to religion, caste or creed and to awaken India’s youth to participate in activities that promote the foregoing objective.” ... "

That's eyewash of the muzak variety, of the grade played in elevators dfor over a fortnight at the end of the year. 

"... As this has nothing to do with journalism, it is inexplicable as to why Young Indian acquired the assets of a media company for its activities. ... "

Of course, since acquisition of assets of AJIL was the real purpose, and all that verbose cover was just that. Cover. 

" ... Moreover, the National Herald building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg has been rented to the Ministry of External Affairs for its Passport Division at a reported sum of Rs.60 lakhs ($94,000) per month. Young Indian has never explained what it does with the money."

Other than being in family pockets? 

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"The takeover was executed systematically. AJL was formally closed and printing of all publications terminated in 2008, leaving an unpaid debt of Rs.90 crores approximately. On November 23, 2010, Young Indian Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated with a paid-up capital of just Rs 5 lakh u/s 25 of the Companies Act, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owned 38 per cent shares each (jointly 76 per cent)."

If the capital was only 5 lakh, how did YI raise 50 lakh, ten times the capital, to pay for AJIL, a company with assets worth over 5,000 crores, which is 100,000 times worth 5 lakh, the said capital of YI? 

"In December 2010, the Board of Directors of Young Indian passed a resolution to “own” the outstanding debt of the AJL and obtained an unsecured zero interest loan from the Congress for equivalent amount to liquidate the said debt. Sonia Gandhi was the then Congress president, Rahul Gandhi general secretary, and Motilal Vora party treasurer and CMD of AJL.

"The AJL held a Board meeting and declared that it could not discharge the debt to Congress. It resolved without reference to and approval of the shareholders that Young Indian would own its debt, and for Rs. 50 lakhs its entire share equity would be transferred to Young Indian. Thus, AJL became a wholly owned company of Young Indian. The loan obtained from the party was written off as irrecoverable."

Sleight of hand, no matter which way one sees, and in clear sight, performed in slow motion, with no real attempt at hiding, except the family prestige, used as a fig leaf. 

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"The AJL Balance Sheet shows that it had real estate assets possibly worth Rs.5000 crores, in Delhi, Lucknow, Bhopal, Indore, Mumbai, Panchkula, Patna and other yet identified places. These were provided by various Central and State Governments after 1947 for facilitating newspaper printing, and publishing.

"After taken possession of this vast real estate, Young Indian declared that according to its objectives submitted for obtaining registration under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 it will not engage in publishing a newspaper including the National Herald. The Herald House in New Delhi has been rented and Young Indian receives the remuneration.

"That there was deep planning behind these moves can be seen from the fact that in AJL’s List of Shareholders and Debenture Holders 2008, the name of Rahul Gandhi has been inserted by hand at Page 49, with no shares or debentures allotted, and no other particulars given. In the List for 2011, Young Indian figures as the last entry, with the address N-125 Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110017, and the shares allotted are 9,02,16,898. Moti Lal Vora signed this document in his capacity as Managing Director.

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"The 2011 list of shareholders submitted to the Registrar of Companies included names of mostly deceased persons (about 80 per cent) and firms long defunct. Names that stand out include Jawaharlal Nehru of Anand Bhawan, Allahabad (died 1964); Rafi Ahmad Kidwai (d 1954); Feroze Gandhi (d 1960); Indira Nehru Gandhi (d 1984); Ghanshyam Das Birla (d 1983); NS Pandit and Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (she died 1990); Kailash Nath Katju (d 1968); Dr. Radha Kumud Mukherji; former Chief Justice of India; Mirza Hameedullah Beg (d 1985); Yagya Dutt Sharma (d 1996); Sucheta Kripalani (d 1974); Yashpal Kapoor; Mohammed Yunus (d 2001); BRCC president Rajni Patel; Jitendra Prasad (d 2001); H.Y. Sharda Prasad (d 2008); Lalit Suri (d 2006).

"When any shareholder died, AJL did not pass on the shares to their legal heirs. However, members of the Nehru-Gandhi family and their close associates entered the shareholder list: hence Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi and later their grandchildren. Some trusts like Rattan Deep Trust controlled by RD Pradhan and Rahul Gandhi, and Janhit Nidhi controlled by Rahul Gandhi, Rameshwar Thakur and Priyanka Gandhi Vadera (spelling as per list), were involved in this business.

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"In February 2013, Subramanian Swamy succeeded in having a criminal complaint for misappropriation of the Herald Group registered against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and the private firm Young Indian, at Patiala House Courts, New Delhi. Swamy pointed out that National Herald Group was not owned by the Nehru family, but by persons who joined the freedom movement and contributed most of the share capital. Hence, Young Indian had no right to appropriate 99 per cent of AJL shares with funds from the Congress party.

"In fact, as AJL held valuable properties and owed only Rs.90 crores to the Congress party and had little other liability, it could have used this real estate to return the loan and give huge benefits to its surviving 1000-plus shareholders who had contributed roughly Rs.89 lakhs ($89,000) to AJL’s capital at various times.

"Since the filing of the case, it has emerged that a commercial building on prime land (3,478 sq m) in Bandra[42], Mumbai, worth around Rs.200 crores ($31 million), was allotted for a Nehru memorial library and research centre nearly three decades ago. Another commercial building has come up on a plot of land taken at Panchkula (Chandigarh) in 2005, for newspapers that were already defunct.

"Under pressure, in January 2016, an extraordinary general body meeting (EGM) of AJL was held at Lucknow to help the Gandhis counter the accusation that they had usurped AJL’s real estate worth thousands of crores by seizing its equity via Young Indian.

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"But there are many problems. The first relates to preferential shareholders. Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan claims that his late father, Vishwamitra, held preferential shares, which do not carry voting rights. But if dividend is not paid for three years, the shareholders become voting members. As AJL never paid dividend since 1937, all preferential shareholders (or heirs) may be deemed as shareholders.

"The EGM invitees included Motilal Vora, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Syed Sibtey Razi, Sam Pitroda, Oscar Fernandes, Sheila Dikshit, Sandeep Dikshit, Salim Sherwani, Ratna Singh, and Jitin Prasada. While the first three figured as shareholders in 2008, it is unclear when the others became shareholders.

"Some shareholders who turned up at the venue were denied entry and told that they would be informed about the decisions. Though more than a year has passed, they have not been recognised and listed.

"Now Nemesis is knocking at the door. With real estate deals of daughter Priyanka Vadra and her husband, Robert Vadra, also coming under scrutiny, the Gandhi Parivar suddenly finds itself between a rock and hard place."

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January 20, 2023 - January 20, 2023. 

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May 14 – Swamy writes to CBI, ED Directors to book Sonia and Rahul in NH case 

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"Stepping up his attacks in the National Herald case, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy petitioned to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) Directors to register cases against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders under Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In his detailed letter, Swamy said that by illegally floating the private company Young Indian, Sonia and Rahul grabbed the land allotted to National Herald newspaper by the Urban Development Ministry (UDM) on lease.

"Urging the two Directors to act against Sonia Gandhi in Prevention of Corruption Act, Swamy pointed out that during the scam period in December 2010, she was a public servant as she was holding the Cabinet Rank as the Chairperson of National Advisory Committee (NAC). The other accused, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez were ruling party Members of Parliament (MP)s and abused power by grabbing the prime land allotted by the UDM for publication of National Herald newspaper.

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"“The land allotted in Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, where the Herald House stands allotted at concessional rates in this prime area by the Central Government, was exclusively for publication of newspaper and thus the act of the accused persons grabbing semi-public property, cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery etc, not only are Indian Penal Code (IPC) offences the of which I am independently pursuing in the Magistrate Court in Patiala House in New Delhi, but it is clearly also offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and PMLA,” said Swamy in his three page letter to the CBI and ED Directors.

"Swamy accused the previous Directors of CBI and ED of hushing up his petition, even after trial court had found prima facie fraud and land grabbing and money laundering of Rs.90 crores involving the Congress party.

"“Moreover, the first accused and prime conspirator Smt. Sonia Gandhi was holding Cabinet Rank as NAC Chairperson when the crime was allegedly committed in 2010-11,” said Swamy urging to book Sonia Gandhi under Prevention of Corruption Act in National Herald case.

"Subramanian Swamy’s detailed three-page petition to CBI and ED Directors is published below ... "

Author gives it in photograph format. 

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January 20, 2023 - January 20, 2023. 

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May 14 – The Doctrine Cy-pres & NH Doctrine of Cy-pres and its scope and application in National Herald case 

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"As Original petitioner Dr. Subramanian Swamy puts it, National Herald is a multi-dimensional case.

"In the history of Independent India, this case will be a landmark for the finer points of law in which it touches and sails through.  It’s a law practitioner’s delight due to various interfaces of law being involved - Company Law, Income Tax, applying real estate, donation of funds in good olden days and now with donors vanishing into thin air due to passage of time - left over people absorbing intent of donors to their own intent and arrangement and legal implications for those transactions extending across India, allocation of government lands, Transfer of property act, etc.,"

That should be 'etc..', not "etc.,". 

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"Let us examine, one such facet of law namely “Doctrine of Cy-pres” and its scope and application in National Herald case. 

"To simply put “Cy Pres” doctrine allows to apply the gift to some other charitable purpose “as nearly as possible” to resemble the original trusts of the gift.

"Halsbury’s Laws of England, 3rd ed., Vol. 4, page 317, para. 645, expresses the doctrine as follows. “Where a clear charitable intention is expressed, it will not be permitted to fail because the mode, if specified, cannot be executed, but the law will substitute another mode cy-pres, that is, as near as possible to the mode specified by the donor.”

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"Facts of National Herald: 

"1. The Associated Journals Limited (The AJL) was the publisher of National Herald Newspaper, which was founded under the chairmanship of Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru

"2. The AJL was formally closed and printing of National Herald, Navjivan and Qaumi Awaz was terminated and thus ceased in 2008. The AJL was at that time under a huge unpaid debt of Rs.90 crores

"3. The AJL borrowed from congress party 90 crores and settled this debt to others and the revised position as it stands: AJL owing 90 crores to Congress

"4. On 23 November 2010, Young Indian was incorporated as Section 25 company and its board of directors passed a resolution to own the outstanding debt of the AJL to Congress party

"5. The AJL board meeting also came to conclusion that it couldn't discharge the debt it owed to congress party and accordingly shareholding of the AJL got transferred to Young Indian

"6. Young Indian decided that they will take over AJL due of Rs 90 cr loan to congress at a value of Rs.50 lakhs 

"7. AJL thanked Young Indian for such a gesture and gave them their 99.99% shares to Young Indian as “consideration.”"

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"To sum up, Congress party paid the outstanding loan of AJL and became its revised creditor and to discharge this “Congress“ creditor; AJL transferred its shares to Young Indian for the amount it owed Congress. This transaction arrangement by itself is a quagmire of corporate structures being put to use leading to effect that AJL is being bought under the ultimate control of Young Indian. Congress party discharging the debt was used landmine to toss up AJL, its assets and shareholders."

The beginning should read 

" ... Congress party paid the outstanding loan of AJL and became its revised creditor; and to discharge this “Congress“ creditor, AJL transferred its shares ... "

And the latter part is quite uncertain, as in "Congress party discharging the debt" makes no sense - after all,  the claim made and later withdrawn was that congress loaned 90 crores to AJIL, not that congress discharged any debt owed by AJIL to anyone. 

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"The interplay of Doctrine of Cy-pres in National Herald case: 

"In the event of a Charitable trust being unable to discharge the trust mandate, it can consider transferring the gifts it received to another trust which comes near to its objective. The legal character of entities should closely resemble the objective. In the case of National Herald, objectives of Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited are not the same. They are different. Also, Young Indian admitting that it will not engage in publishing any newspaper including the National Herald makes the case clear that doctrine of cy-pres is violated.

"The application of the doctrine to public charities is explained in Halsbury at page 317, as follows: “WHERE a clear charitable intention is expressed, it will not be permitted to fail because the mode, if specified, cannot be executed, but the law will substitute another mode cy-pres, that is, as near as possible to the mode specified by the donor” [43]. Not only is the doctrine resorted to for the initial application of the fund given to charity, but also for applying any surplus of capital or income or subsequent increases thereof: see Halsbury pages 318 and 323. The rule of cy-pres is in harmony with the teachings of the Hindu Shastras and has been applied to charitable gifts by Hindus - Muthukrishna Naicken v. Ram chandra Naicken and others, A.I.R. 1919 Madras 659 (8) [44].

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"Referencing the above application of the doctrine of Cy-pres to National Herald only lead to the further conclusion - This complete transaction is a sham - Neither the objective was closely linked, nor its funds were applied. Letting out National Herald properties for rent also denotes borderline commercial activity. It gives us a hint about thought process which may have gone through in this transaction evidencing and establishing “mens rea.”"

Author is unduly charitable to the point of a lie in description of the Act as "borderline commercial activity", since renting out the premises for 60 lakhs a month has no other interpretation.  

"The doctrine of Cy-Pres is the only mode available under law to transfer gifts of trust to any other. In the case of National Herald, not only this doctrine is flouted but also it’s being done by the persons by interplaying themselves as giver and taker using corporate structures. India is land of business and trade but trade and business cant' happen within oneself/masking oneself as other. Where a Company does an act which is ultra vires, no legal relationship or effect ensues there from. Such an act is absolutely void and cannot be ratified even if all the shareholders agree. Ref: Dr. A. Lakshmanaswami ... vs Life Insurance Corporation on 11 December, 1962."

Next paragraph is unclear. 

"Charitable trusts across worldwide offer enough width and breath for real estate planning. This case of the National herald is one of the India’s contribution to global real estate planning in a novel way."

That should be National Herald. 

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January 20, 2023 - January 20, 2023. 

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May 24 – HC rejects Motilal Vora’s petition against ED in Money Laundering probe in NH case 

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"The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected the petition filed by Motilal Vora against ED’s probe in National Herald. The HC has told the Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora that he can approach it for relief if the Enforcement Directorate tries to arrest him in connection with alleged money laundering in land allotment to Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

"The court refused to entertain for now a plea by the 86-year-old national treasurer of the Congress to restrain the agency from arresting him. “It appears that there is no intention of ED to arrest him,” said the division bench comprising Chief Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar and Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal said on Tuesday, adding that his prayer for interim relief will not been taken up at this stage. “In case any attempt is made to arrest him by ED, he can file an application before the court,” the bench observed.

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"The case would now come up for hearing on July 19. Vora had been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate after he was summoned in his capacity as the Chairman and Managing Director of the AJL in connection with alleged irregularities in allotment of the plot to the company, which is the publisher of the National Herald newspaper, in Panchkula, Haryana, in 2005. 

"The agency had, last year, filed a criminal complaint and booked former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AJL officials and others on charges of alleged money laundering, taking cognisance of a Haryana State Vigilance Bureau FIR. Vora and AJL had moved the HC seeking quashing of the enforcement case investigation report registered by the ED.

"The CBI in April this year registered a case of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating and criminal conspiracy against Hooda, the then Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) chairman, an ex-officio post held by him as the CM, and four other top officials of HUDA[45]. Hooda had termed the action as “political vendetta” and said there was no wrongdoing. The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982.

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"After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, the then Haryana Vikas Party government led by Bansi Lal took back its possession. It was re-allotted to AJL under the regime of Congress-led by Hooda after the party came to power in 2005.

"It was alleged that the act by the then HUDA chairman and the officials had caused a huge financial loss to HUDA as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of being alloted again to AJL.

"Recently, Delhi High Court had rejected Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s petition to stop the Income Tax probe on the funding from Congress party to Young Indian and AJL[46]. The HC had even asked the Congress leaders to cooperate with the Income Tax. At one point, the Court said “don’t be so arrogant” when the Congress lawyer Abhishek Singhvi pressed for sending notice to Income Tax."

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January 20, 2023 - January 20, 2023. 

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Jul 01 – Swamy applies for documents for Congress-AJL money trail Seeks documents of AJL funding 

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"On Jul 1, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy applied for documents from Congress party and erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) regarding the illegal Rs.90 crores money trail. Swamy also filed the application under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) 294 to produce some crucial documents to cross verify with the accused persons. Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen issued a notice to Congress leaders in this regard and the next hearing is posted on July 22. Congress leaders are expected to object to Swamy’s demands for documents and production and verification of such documents."

Next paragraph is flanked with two wonderful cartoons. 

"The majority of the documents Swamy demanded were from AJL and Congress party regarding the illegal transaction of Rs.90 crores. For the past one year, Congress leaders have been vehemently objecting to this demand as it is a known secret that there are no such documents for this illegal or under-the-table deal of Rs.90 crores1. Even though Congress leaders claim that they have financed the AJL in the interest of protecting “Secularism and Nehruvian thoughts”, the law bans a political party to give loans for commercial operations to a company like AJL.

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"When the case started in the afternoon, Congress lawyers tried to put Swamy on the dock by pointing out that the BJP leader was not serving notices properly. They pointed out that in the previous hearing on May 15, the Court had directed Swamy to provide applications in 15 days and Swamy had served notices only today. In his usual style, Swamy shot back that he was trying to serve the applications to Congress side for many days and not found any of them as most of them were abroad. Sensing that Swamy was trying to poke the main accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders did not go further.

"The application under CrPC 294 is a headache for Congress leaders. This application allows Swamy to produce documents and cross verify with the accused. This is expected to be Swamy’s move to cut down the time consumption during the trial and agreeing for the cross verification of documents by Swamy would lead to the early admission of guilt in the case. So, it is expected that in the next hearing on July 22, Congress lawyers will oppose this applications tooth and nail.

"Legal experts point out that Congress wanted to start the trial by cross-examining Swamy and delaying for a long time and Swamy’s idea is to bring documents on record first and cut short the crossing by the accused. As documents are verified first, much of the evidence is placed on record, leading to reduced trial time. They point out that when the documents are placed, half of the case is over, and Swamy’s intention is to bring documents on records first to prove the major crux of the politically sensitive case.

"Congress is now in a “damned if they do and damned if they don’t” situation."

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January 20, 2023 - January 20, 2023. 

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Aug 05 – Congress objects to supply of documents Swamy produces documents to verify with them 

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"National Herald case reaches a turning point on August 5, after Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy produced 24 documents for the verification of the accused under Section 294 of CrPC. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others that are accused, objected to Swamy’s earlier petition to produce pertinent documents on the money trail from Congress and newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL). Swamy’s move to produce documents by him and verify with the accused is a nightmare for the Congress leaders.

"The next hearing in the case is scheduled for September 23. Congress leaders, as usual, are expected to object to Swamy’s new strategy of verification of the documents produced by him. Swamy produced 24 crucial documents of Congress, AJL and Sonia Rahul controlled Young Indian linking the illegal Rs.90 crore routing from the party to capture the assets of AJL. He also produced the decades' long agreements of land allotments to AJL in Bihar, Delhi, and Haryana.

"Responding to Swamy’s earlier petition for production Congress repeated that Swamy is trying to delay the legal process and with the hidden agenda to hoist more cases. The 12-page reply by the Congress leaders said Swamy’s demands are “yet another ploy to delay the proceedings in the case and not move forward according to the procedure laid by the law.”

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"Congress leaders said Swamy has “ulterior motives behind to move multiple applications seeking documents.” Citing out Swamy’s styles in the conducting the Congress leaders said that he is trying to create more cases and petitions and trying to delay and link with other cases like CBI FIR against former Haryana Chief Minister BS Hooda and later withdrawing the petition.

"Congress party even objected to Swamy’s demand of producing their Balance Sheets and accounts during 2010-2012, the scam period. Many party insiders say the party did not reflect the Rs.90 crores transfer to AJL and producing these accounts would be a real boomerang for the Congress leadership, as Swamy would next prefer case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

"The latest strategic step of Swamy by producing the Photostat copies of Congress and AJL documents and get it verified from the accused side under CrPC 294 is a real tension for Congress leaders, as it would directly lead to the admission of the guilt."

Author gives another delightful tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy, in a photographic reproduction format. 

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January 20, 2023 - January 20, 2023. 

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Aug 21 – Magistrate son terminated. Is the father, Justice V P Vaish in trouble too? Son's dismissal could mean trouble for the Meghalaya High Court Judge V P Vaish 

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"With the Delhi High Court terminating the services of Metropolitan Magistrate Nitesh Gupta, his father Justice Ved Prakash Vaish, now in Meghalaya High Court may be in trouble too. As per the reports, a few days ago, the Delhi High Court terminated the services of the newly recruited Magistrate Nitesh Gupta for finding Rs.5.73 crores in his accounts[47]. His claim that this amount was an “interest-free loan” from somebody was found to be unsatisfactory. It is a genuine question as to how Rs.5.73 crores came into the account of a young Magistrate, who recently joined the service. Nitesh Gupta’s selection as a Magistrate was also controversial when his father Justice V P Vaish was a Judge in the Delhi High Court. There were allegations of nepotism in the selection process.

"Father V P Vaish, who started his career in the Delhi District Courts, was the Registrar General of Delhi High Court, before being selected as a High Court Judge in Delhi High Court in April 2013, during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) tenure. Justice V P Vaish’s actions in the politically sensitive National Herald case was controversial. In August 2014, he stayed the trial court order of summoning Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders. After sitting on the case for about six months, all of a sudden Justice Vaish recused himself from the case without giving any reason in January 2015[48].

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"During this period in December 2014, Justice Vaish took a controversial decision by quashing the CBI trial of Sonia Gandhi’s Private Secretary Vincent George[49]. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to direct the CBI to appeal against this controversial decision, which has not yet been acted upon.

"Anyway, Justice Vaish was soon transferred to Meghalaya High Court in May 2016. Now his son, a Magistrate in Delhi Courts is terminated for finding unexplainable money. Father Justice V P Vaish can’t evade from this shameful incident in Judiciary. There were talks in legal circles that the father may resign as an escape route. Being a High Court Judge, the only punishment as per the Constitution is Impeachment by Parliament. That has to be moved forward by political parties. Will they move Impeachment Motion against Justice V P Vaish? Or like in the case of errant Judge Justice Karnan, will Supreme Court remove him from judicial duties? The Supreme Court can only remove him from Judicial duties and post him in some administrative duties. Only Parliament can act through an impeachment motion by terminating his services. Will political parties act? Or will they make noise and delay the actual impeachment proceedings, giving enough time for V P Vaish to exit by resigning? 

"The Modi government, by firing a Magistrate has given a strong message to the judiciary. Those who are caught red handed with unexplained income will be named, shamed, and thrown out. This will instil fear in the hearts of the corrupt judges who permeate the system at every level in India."

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January 20, 2023 - January 20, 2023. 

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Oct 22 – Swamy praises PM Modi on fight against Corruption, lists out 7 crucial cases on which CBI is not acting 

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"Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy blamed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India, for the delay in action in major seven cases of corruption by the agency probes including the Aircel-Maxis, National Herald, and Robert Vadra cases. In a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Swamy listed the seven cases and inaction by the CBI for the past several months.

"Swamy pointed out that CBI has not yet moved an inch in the National Herald case land grabbing by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi under Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), even after many courts up to Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the ongoing case filed by him. He said that apart from Sonia and Rahul, other Directors of Young Indian such as Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes were Members of the Parliament (MPs) when grabbing the Herald House property leased by the Ministry of Urban Development.

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"“In the National Herald case, in which prosecution in my Private Complaint case, the CBI has to register a case under Prevention of Corruption Act against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez who all are MPs. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) thereafter can attach all the illegally acquired properties of the Associated Journals Private Limited,” he said.

"He blamed the CBI for not acting fast against former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s family. Swamy said that CBI delayed the probe in Aircel Maxis case involving Chidambaram and son Karti and urged immediate custodial interrogation. He also said that CBI has not yet acted against Chidambaram’s wife Nalini in Sarada Chit Fund Scam.

"“In the Sarada Chit Fund case, the main accused have mentioned Nalini Chidambaram as having received illegal pecuniary benefits and gratification. Yet she has yet to be summoned and questioned,” said Swamy in a two-page letter. The letter of Swamy is published at the end of this report.

................................................................................................

"The Senior BJP leader also pointed out that CBI is going very slow in the land grabbing cases against Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. Another case he said was the CBI delay in the probe against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda in the illegal land allotment to National Herald in Panchkula.

"“The cases of Moin Qureshi and the Agusta Westland corruption have not proceeded at all, besides sensational media publicity,” said Swamy urging Prime Minister to direct CBI for speedy and fast action in these seven corruption cases."

That explains a great deal regarding the mysterious delay in CBI investigation of comparatively recent - 2020 June - murders in Mumbai, subsequently. 

"Subramanian Swamy’s letter to Prime Minister on CBI delays in seven crucial corruption cases is published below:"

Author gives the letter in photographic reproduction format. 

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January 20, 2023 - January 20, 2023. 

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Nov 18 – Sonia & Rahul reject cross verification of documents, allege Swamy is delaying National Herald case on Saturday in the Patiala Court 

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"Without providing their own documents or getting ready to testify, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi accused senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy of trying to delay the case by asking for a series of documents.

"For the past two years, Congress leaders are not providing any documents of their party’s funding to Associated Journal Limited (AJL) or the accounts of AJL or Young Indian or the Congress party which itself exposes the scam[50]. After hearing the objection of the leaders Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh posted the case on January 20 for further arguments.

................................................................................................

"Puncturing Congress leaders repeated objections in producing their own documents, Subramanian Swamy, in the previous hearing made an application under Section 294 of CrPC. As per this Swamy can produce those documents and Congress leaders can be asked to cross verify these documents. This was a nightmare to the Congress leadership as these documents will boomerang on them and can cut short many procedures in the trial. On November 18, sensing this lethal way, Congress leaders argued that Swamy is trying to delay the process by moving many petitions while withdrawing many of his earlier petitions.

"“This exercise undertaken by the complainant to file multiple applications, choosing to withdraw some and further choosing to change the relief sought in one by replacing it with another is nothing but an absolute disregard for the precious time of this court and of the larger judicial process,” said Sonia and Rahul in their counter arguments on Swamy’s petition under Section 294 of CrPC for cross verification of National Herald case documents. The leaders sought dismissal of Swamy’s application while keeping silence on the production of their own documents or cross verification of their own documents produced by Swamy.

"The BJP leader had filed a set of documents of around 450 pages relating to the Congress party, National Herald and others before the court, seeking a response from the accused as to whether these were correct."

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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2018

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Jan 01 – Fight against corruption must be one of the main New Year Resolutions of PM Modi Sonia family: Vadra land grabbing: Chidambaram family cases: Ahmed Patel family cases: NDTV cases: Controversial 2G trial court judgment: 

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"Dear Prime Minister, 

"We are now entering 2018. Looking back, the year 2017 had a dismal track record on Government’s promised fight against corruption, basically due to lethargy and internal sabotages to save the corrupt in the really big cases. The shocking judgment in the 2G Scam case has created doubts in the minds of common man that anything is possible[51] and the venal are beginning to think that they can get away with anything (in one case even murder)! Nothing can explain the inordinate delays in the corruption cases involving the Sonia family in the National Herald case, and Robert Vadra in the land grabbing case.

"The probes into Chidambaram family’s corruption cases[52]  like the Aircel-Maxis scam, INX-media bribery case and illegal assets amassed in 14 countries and Ahmed Patel family’s case involving the Sterling Biotech and Sandesara Group companies are moving at a glacial pace[53]. A similar lethargic attitude by the probe agencies is also seen in the various cases against NDTV.

"Dear Prime Minister, given below is the status of the probe in each of the high-flying cases mentioned above.

................................................................................................

"Sonia family: 

"National Herald case: 

"Still the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax and the Urban Development Ministry have not yet moved an inch in this case involving land grabbing in major cities worth more than Rs.5000 crores by Sonia and Rahul. From trial court to Delhi High Court to Supreme Court, all have ratified the illegalities prima facie and the accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders are now out on bail and facing trial in the private case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. What prevents the CBI, ED, Income Tax and Union Urban Development Ministry, State Governments of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh to act on the massive land grab and bank loan jugglery in the name of media operations by these top Congress leaders? Only Haryana Government initiated action[54] and handed over the case to CBI, which is still sitting on the case. As a private complainant Subramanian Swamy has many limitations in providing all the proof and undertaking all the legal proceedings. It is time for Government agencies to do their duty in National Herald scam, which is ratified in all legal forums and the trial is going on.

................................................................................................

"Vadra land grabbing: 

"For the past three years CBI, ED and Income Tax are beating around the bush in the massive land grabbing and money laundering cases related to Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra[55]. People have started losing faith in the Government’s attitude on the fight regarding high profile corruption cases. There is a general perception among the people that politicians at the top in all parties do under-the-table dealings due to the delay in Vadra probe and other cases.

................................................................................................

"Chidambaram family cases: 

"The obscene delays in the Aircel Maxis and INX Media bribe cases probe are really testing the patience of the common man. Chidambaram’s son Karti is now openly defying summons of CBI and ED and the delay by the agencies have provided ample room for him to drag it to the courts. There is no excuse for the inaction, including the arrest of Karti for not appearing before agencies. Further, Government agencies have still not started to register cases under the Black Money Act and Benami Act for illegally amassing properties in 14 countries and 21 undeclared foreign bank accounts by the members of Chidambaram family[56]. It is an open secret that many top people in the Finance Ministry are trying to hush up the cases against former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s family[57].

................................................................................................

"Ahmed Patel family cases: 

"Ahmed Patel’s family is now caught in the Rs.5000 crores bank loan fraud involving Sterling Biotech and Sandesara Group of companies. The ED officers such as Rajeshwar Singh are facing all kinds of hardships from the corrupt lobby and friends of Chidambaram and Ahmed Patel after the registration of these high-profile cases. It is time you read out the riot act to the babus that their loyalties are first and foremost, to the country and anyone indulging in acts of sabotage should be dealt with severely.

................................................................................................

"NDTV cases: 

"India’s premier peddler of fake news, NDTV, is caught by CBI, ED and Income Tax and still the cases move at a pace that can only be described as turtle-like[58]. Even after having been provided proof of the massive rigging by the NDTV promoters in Stock Exchanges, the Regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has not yet acted due to the interference of NDTV-friendly people in the Finance Ministry[59].

................................................................................................

"Controversial 2G trial court judgment: 

"The government must ensure the immediate appeal and day-to-day basis arguments in the Delhi High Court to bring justice in the 2G Scam trial court judgment, which acquitted all the corrupt persons. This trial court judgment, ignoring all the concrete evidence of money trail and findings of the Supreme Court shows the handiwork of corrupt elements who manage to ensure outcomes to their liking[60].

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"Dear Prime Minister, in the light of above-stated facts, I and everyone at Team PGurus urge you to evolve a clear strategy on a war footing to fight corruption, as promised by you to the electorate. 

"Wishing you a nice 2018 ahead."

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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Jan 20 – Income Tax fixes Sonia-Rahul firm Young Indian for Rs.414 crores gains from NH frauds. Calls Congress Rs.90 crores loan claim “bogus” 

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Amusing mistake in the pic at the top of the chapter, in saying '60 crores' instead of '90 crores'. 

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"The Income Tax Department (ITD) exposes the blatant lies, frauds including hawala operations and land grabbing committed by Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled firm Young Indian in the National Herald case.

"The ITD declared that the Congress’ claim of giving Rs.90-crores ($14 million) loan to the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL) was a “totally bogus” claim to facilitate Gandhi family-controlled company Young Indian to dubiously take over the ownership of the lands and buildings across India. The 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order has declared that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled Young Indian’s actual taxable income is more than Rs.414 crores ($65 million) and cancelled the firm’s tax exemption certificate. As per this Assessment Order dated December 27, 2017, served to Young Indian the previous week, the company is liable for tax evasion for the concealment of income of more than Rs.414 crores. According to tax experts, the concealment of income attracts fine in the range of 100% to 300% and prosecution for concealing the income.

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"The Assessment Order dated December 27 served to the Young Indian was produced by main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before the New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh on Saturday afternoon to prove that his complaints and findings against all the accused are totally ratified by the Income Tax department. After assessing the Fair Market Values of the properties of AJL in New Delhi, Mumbai’s Bandra region, Lucknow, Panchkula in Haryana and Patna, the Assessment Order says the Young Indian literally owns the land and building assets of more than Rs.2000 crores.

"Income Tax in its detailed Assessment Order described the takeover of erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company AJL by Young Indian as a premeditated scheme of tax evasion, adventure, fraudulent, involved in hawala nature activities etc.

"“However, during the course of assessment proceedings, many opportunities were allowed to the assessee (Young Indian) as well as the representatives of the AICC to prove the date and mode of transfer of loan amounting to Rs.90.21 crores to the AJL,” said Income Tax department, adding that Congress leaders including its Treasurer Motilal Vora did not cooperate and raised objections several times[61]. The IT Department also produced Vora’s letters accusing the Assessing Officer for political bias for seeking the details of the Rs.90 crore loan claim to National Herald. In some letters, Vora warns the Assessing Officer that he would face prosecution and has no power to investigate these matters.

................................................................................................

"“In order to fulfil the objective of acquiring 100 percent shares of the AJL, one of the majority shareholder of the assessee (Young Indian), Rahul Gandhi along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had purchased an additional 47,513 and 2,62,411 shares through Rattan Deep Trust and Janhit Nidhi Trust respectively[62] without complying with the provisions of the Companies Act,” said Income Tax in detail saying that Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crore loan to AJL was wrong and this wrong claim was mooted to take over the land assets of AJL by floating a new company called Young Indian.

"“As early as in the beginning of the year 2008 it was decided to close down the business of printing and publishing the newspaper by the AJL with the oblique purpose to make commercial use of the business assets of the AJL (commercial property located in posh areas of Delhi, Patna, Panchkula, Mumbai, Lucknow) acquired by it from the Central/ State Governments for publishing newspaper at ridiculously low prices...

"“Important office bearers of the AICC namely Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes and AJL controlled by Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes have devised the scheme involving pre-ordinate artificial and fraudulent steps to take over AJL. The objective of the scheme was two-fold, one to obtain valuable benefits embodied in business assets of the AJL and two, to not pay any tax on business income of earning such benefit.

"“The scheme has included a fraudulent transaction involving purchases of a non-existent loan of Rs.90.21 crores by AICC to AJL for a paltry sum of Rs. 50 lakhs ($78,000) by the assessee (Young Indian) company.”"

................................................................................................

"The Income Tax Order also said that Young Indian receiving Rs. One crore ($156,000) from a Kolkata based company Doltex is nothing but a hawala transaction[63].

"“The competent authority after making enquiry has held that the assessee company (Young Indian) had not carried out any activity in accordance with its charitable object and has cancelled the tax exemption enjoyed by the assessee company by passing an order under section 12AA(3) of the Act on December 26, 2017. In view of the above, the business income of the Rs.413,40,55,980 earned by the assessee (Young Indian) during year under consideration was not subject to tax exemption.”

"The Assessment Order said that 44 opportunities spanning 890 days were given to Congress leaders and Young Indian company to prove their claims. The Income Tax also re-produced Motilal Vora’s letter to the Assessing Officer, accusing him of political bias and wide range of allegations when documents were sought for the party’s claim of giving a Rs.90 crores loan.

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"National Herald publication was stopped in 2008 and the publishing company AJL was taken over by Young Indian in December 2010. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul have 38 percent shares each in the newly floated Young Indian. Gandhi family’s trusted Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes have 12 percent shares each. The family’s close aides Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey are also the Directors and first promoters of the Young Indian. In the case filed by Subramanian Swamy, all these six persons and Young Indian are accused and currently out on bail from December 2015[64]. Swamy approached the Metropolitan Magistrate’s court in February 2013 and taking cognizance of the office, the Court had summoned the Congress leaders. Though the Congress leadership went to Delhi High Court and Supreme Court against the trial court’s summons, however, it did not get relief. The Courts pronounced that they must face trial. After the trial court’s summons in July 2014, the Income Tax had issued notice to Young Indian and Congress and AJL for the controversial Rs.90-crore loan.

"The Magistrate directed to put the documents in a sealed cover. Swamy also produced the documents produced by Sonia Gandhi in the Supreme Court (SC) in a Special Leave Petition for National Herald. Swamy said these were the documents he wanted and said he wanted Sonia to testify these documents or face perjury if documents placed in the SC were wrong. Next hearing in this case is adjourned for March 17."

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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Jan 22 – Read 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order against Young Indian exposing Rs.414 crores gain 

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"In public interest, we have decided to publish the entire 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi controlled company Young Indian. This Assessment Order proves that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s National Herald case against the Congress leadership is totally factual.

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Author gives paragraphs interspersed with cartoons, next. 

"This Assessment Order published below this article establishes the following:

"1. As per the Assessment Order dated December 27, 2017, Income Tax Department (ITD) found that Congress party’s claim of giving Rs.90 crores loan to National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL) was totally bogus and a fraud engineered by the Gandhi family.

"2. The ITD charges that Young Indian concealed taxable income of more than Rs.414 crores. So as per Income Tax Act, the fine for the concealed taxable income ranges between 100 to 300% and criminal prosecution for such concealment.

"3. The fake loan theory of Rs.90 crores was engineered to grab the properties of National Herald newspaper in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow, Panchkula in Haryana and Bhopal, worth more than Rs.2000 crores by the Gandhi family-controlled company. All these properties in plush localities of these cities were allotted on lease for publishing newspapers by Central and State Governments at a paltry sum. Floating a new company called Young Indian was to grab these assets.

"4. The Assessment Order shows that 44 opportunities spanning 890 days were given to the Directors of Young Indian and Congress leadership. It also shows that Congress leadership including Motilal Vora tried to accuse the Income Tax officers, rather than give answers.

"5. The Order also shows that Priyanka Vadra was also part of the dubious deals to control the National Herald publishing company AJL.

"6. The allotment of more than three lakh shares of AJL to Congress President Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka was a violation of Companies Act too.

"7. Young Indian receiving Rs.1 crore from a Kolkata based company Doltex was nothing but a hawala transaction involving money laundering.

"8. Young Indian and AJL Directors Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez and Gandhi family aides Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda acted dubiously to facilitate the grabbing of Rs.2000 crores worth assets of National Herald by Young Indian’s controlling Directors Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi."

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"The options before the Congress leadership are to file an appeal against this Assessment Order before the Income Tax Commissioner and then in the Income Tax Tribunal. After this, an appeal can be filed in High Court and Supreme Court. This Assessment Order also shows that Congress leadership had approached the Delhi High Court to stop the Income Tax from assessing and the petition was rejected."

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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Jan 24 – The silence of Congress on the Income Tax Assessment Order in NH case is deafening 

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"Why is Congress observing Maun vrat? 

"The silence being maintained by the Congress party and its leadership for the past five days after the exposé of Income Tax Assessment Order (ITAO) against Young Indian (YI) is deafening. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi together own about 76% of Young Indian, an entity they established to grab the assets of Associate Journals Limited[65]. The Assessment Order dated December 27, 2017, was revealed by the main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in a trial court on January 20, 2018, to prove that his charges in the criminal case have been ratified by the Income Tax department.

"Congress leadership must have received the ITAO dated December 27 at least by the first week of January. The Order clearly states the Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crores loan to Associated Journal Limited (AJL) a complete lie. It also asserts that this blatant lie was engineered to grab the Rs.2000 crores assets by the Gandhi family who floated a new company called Young Indian. The Order says that Young Indian has concealed a taxable income of Rs.414 crores. This means that Young Indian has to pay a fine ranging from 100 to 300% of the concealed Income and YI’s directors will have to face criminal prosecution. As of December 28, 2017, the Directors of Young Indian, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, trusted National Secretary Oscar Fernandes, Party Treasurer Motilal Vora and Gandhi family’s close aides Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda have to face criminal prosecution for this big fraud aimed at grabbing the Rs.2000 crores worth real estate assets in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow, Panchkula in Haryana and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

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"Is it the shock of being found out or has the proverbial cat got Congress’s tongue? Slowly but steadily, a chorus of media has started reporting on this revelation, but Congress is unresponsive. The usual tactic of blaming the Government for using the Income Tax Department as a tool for political vendetta is missing this time around.

"In public interest, PGurus has published the entire 105 pages of the Income Tax Order exposing the loot of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi firm Young Indian[66]. More than a lakh people have visited this site in the past 24 hours, while many in the mainstream media (MSM) were keeping a studied silence. 

"With the normal response of lashing out not in show, what exactly is cooking in the kitchen of the Congress leadership? Should the silence be construed as assent? The nation wants to know."

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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Mar 19 – Delhi HC orders Young Indian to deposit Rs 10.cr in Income Tax recovery notice of Rs.250 crores 

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"In a big setback to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, the Delhi High Court (HC) on Monday directed their company Young Indian to deposit Rs.10 crores ($1.67 million) first in their petition against Income Tax (IT) recovery notice of Rs.249.15 crores. The bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla directed the company to deposit half the amount with the Income Tax department before March 31 and the remaining Rs.5 crores by April 15th.

"The High Court said that subject to the deposit of the amount, the tax authorities shall not enforce the demand of Rs.249.15 crores made on the company for the assessment year 2011-12.  The High Court also sought the IT department's response to Young Indian's (YI) plea challenging the demand and the proceedings emanating from it and listed the matter for further hearing on April 24.

"Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Young Indian, told the court that it will have extreme difficulty in raising Rs.10 crores and sought the amount to be fixed at Rs.7.5 crores.  He said that the amount was being collected from contributions by individuals and it would, therefore, be tough to get more money.  He also urged the bench to allow the company to deposit the amount in court, saying it was extremely difficult to get a refund from the IT department."

Seriously? 

After renting out National Herald properties in Delhi, or a small fraction thereof, for Rs 60 lakh per month, to Government of India? 

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"Advocate Ashish Jain, representing the IT department, opposed the oral pleas made on YI's behalf and said the company had to actually deposit Rs.49 crores, 20 percent of the demand, for its appeal to be heard. The bench refused to grant both the pleas made orally on behalf of Young Indian and directed it to deposit Rs.10 crores with the IT department. The High Court also directed the tax authorities to expeditiously hear YI's appeal against the assessment order.

"On December 27, 2017, the Income Tax Department’s Assessment Order found that Young Indian had hushed up a taxable income of more than Rs.414 crores ($40 million)[67]. While Congress leadership has kept silent on this devastating Income Tax Order exposing the frauds in the National Herald case[68], after some weeks, BJP leader and main petitioner Subramanian Swamy produced a copy of this Income Tax Order in the trial court[69]. Even the advocates representing Sonia and Rahul were unaware of this Income Tax Order.

"The IT department has declared that Congress party’s claim of giving Rs.90 crore loans to the newspaper was a total sham and a wrong claim to facilitate Gandhi family-controlled company Young Indian to dubiously take over the ownership of the lands and buildings across India. The 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order has declared that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled Young Indian’s actual taxable income is more than Rs.414 crores and canceled the firm’s tax exemption certificate.

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"The Income Tax, in its detailed Assessment Order described the takeover of erstwhile National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by Young Indian as a “premeditated scheme of tax evasion”, adventure, fraudulent, involved in hawala nature activities etc.

"After this order, IT fined and issued a recovery notice for Rs.249.15 crores ($40 million) from Young Indian. The company controlled by Sonia and Rahul with 76 percent shares, has approached the High Court seeking a direction to stay the recovery of the demand of tax and interest of Rs 249.15 crores, raised following a notice of December 27, 2017, issued under section 156 of the I-T Act for the assessment year 2011-12.

"It has also challenged the order of the IT authorities rejecting the firm's application and sought a stay on the direction to pay Rs.49.83 crores ($8 million), that is 20 per cent of the total disputed outstanding demand."

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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Mar 28 – Why is Congress quiet on the IT fine of Rs.249.15 crores? 

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"The normally loquacious Congress party has been keeping a stony silence on the Demand Notice of Income Tax (IT) Department, levying a fine of Rs.249.15 crores ($38.4 million) on Young Indian. PGurus have accessed the three-page Income Tax Demand Notice and it shows that the tax notice was dated December 27, 2017, giving them up to 30 days to appeal. This notice was sent by the tax department on Young Indian for hushing up taxable income to the tune of Rs.414 crores ($63.8 million).

"The 105-page Assessment Order came in the public domain only after the petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy placed this document in the trial court in his private case on January 20, 2018[70]. Even the lawyers representing Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were caught off-guard by this stunning document exposing more frauds in the National Herald case (see Figure 83).

"Even after Swamy’s exposé, the Congress leadership has kept silent. Now it is proved that both the IT Assessment Order and the Demand Notice of Rs.249.15 crores were issued on December 27, 2017. This fine came in the public domain only on March 19, 2018, when Young Indian approached the Delhi High Court against Income Tax. The tax sleuths demanded Rs.49 crores deposit to entertain the appeal against the Tax demand of Rs.249.15 crores. The three-page Income Tax Demand Notice is produced at the end of this article.

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"In Delhi High Court, Congress leaders pleaded that they have no money. Young Indian was represented by noted tax lawyer Arvind Datar. The Bench comprising Justices Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla ordered Young Indian to deposit Rs.10 crores ($1.54 million) to entertain their first appeal to Commissioner of Income Tax[71]. As per the order, Young Indian has to deposit Rs. Five crores ($0.77 million) before March 31 and the balance has to be deposited by April 15.

"Young Indian was controversially floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in late 2010 to take over the more than Rs.2000 crores-worth ($308.2 million) land and building assets of the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals. The mother and son are Directors and are having 38 percent shares each in Young Indian. Their trusted persons and Congress leaders Oscar Fernandez and Motilal Vora each have 12 percent shares in this company, which is now facing Rs.249.15 crores tax dues. The Sonia family’s close aides Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are also Directors of this controversial firm[72].

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"The question is the continued silence of Congress leadership on one of the biggest Income Tax dues. Is Sonia Gandhi thinking of doing some deals to hush-up the Income Tax notice with certain pliable persons in Government? Why else would Ministry of Finance not allow the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to register a case of money laundering in National Herald? The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also not been allowed to register a case of land grabbing, of land allotted to National Herald by Young Indian. Maharashtra Government is yet to act on the report of the land grabbed in Bandra[73]. The only action came from Haryana Government[74], and we are seeing so many hit jobs against the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar from several quarters and also by a section of the Dynasty-Slave media houses. These entities create outrage against him and seek his resignation at the drop of a hat. Is this stony silence a plot to make some sort of a deal to hush-up the huge tax dues of Rs.249.15 crores?"

Latter part about hit jobs, yes, one does recall. 

"PGurus accessed the below published three-page Income Tax Demand notice from the more than 300-page petition of Congress in the Delhi High Court:"

Author gives the said notice in photographic format. 

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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Mar 31 – Is Kapil Sibal dilly-dallying on answering the allegations of controversial company purchase and land acquisition? 

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"Yesterday – March 30 – Congress leader and noted lawyer Kapil Sibal conducted a Press Conference. It was expected that Sibal would be replying to the allegations aired against him by Union Minister Smriti Irani on the report published by the website OpIndia on the controversial acquiring of a company for just a few lakh rupees and getting land worth Rs.89 crores ($13.7 million)[75].

"Here is the 38-minute-long video of Sibal’s press conference[76]. Sibal spent most of the time on the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam paper leak and Justice Chelameshwar’s letter. The rest was his usual rhetoric against the Prime Minister and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). During the QA (Question and Answer) session, two questions came up on the allegations against him on the dubious acquisition of the company and his links with controversial businessmen, the Gupta brothers of South Africa. In two minutes Sibal closed the chapter by quoting a South African newspaper which said that they “found no money laundering or fraud practices by Sibal.” And to the second question of filing a case against OpIndia report, Sibal quipped that he will decide when and what and how to do.

"Does this mean that Sibal has something to hide or he doesn’t want to discuss the subject? This is typical Sibal style. If there was any wrong or fault in the report of OpIndia website or subsequent allegations and questions raised by Smriti Irani, Sibal would have put on a show of spectacular dimensions, countering them. His response felt more like a whimper than the roar of a lion.

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"The OpIndia article written Nupur J Sharma is very clear - In February 2017, Sibal and wife purchased a company for few lakhs of rupees1. This company was formerly owned by South Africa based controversial Indian origin businessmen and by the purchase of this company at a throwaway price, Sibal and wife became the owners of the company’s plush property in Delhi worth about Rs.89 crores."

So the lady has been persecuted viciously, and her supporters butchered literally, across India, because she dared to write against the holy axis DNA family, just as Haryana CM, Khattar, got scandals thrown at him after he behaved impeccably as per law, against the same family - its suddenly obvious! 

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"Being the lead Advocate of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case, to put it satirically, the Advocate Sibal appears to have learned the art from his clients. The National Herald case, in a nutshell, is that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi floated a company for just Rs.5 lakhs ($8000) capital and dubiously became the owners of Rs.2000 crores ($307 million) worth properties of National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL). See the similarities?!

"Sibal now relays the South African newspapers’ observation that they found nothing on Sibal’s money laundering. How can a newspaper find money laundering, that too from South Africa, on an Indian property? The newspaper report mainly concentrated on the controversial activities of South African businessmen the Guptas and Piyoosh Goyal. Meanwhile in 2013, when Sibal was a powerful Minister in UPA-2, handling Telecom, Law and IT, these Gupta brothers and Piyoosh Goyal were on the radar of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for bribing the State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda officers. The case reached nowhere as these persons are harboured safely in South Africa. Now in 2017, their Indian company is acquired by Sibal and wife at throwaway prices reminiscent of the National Herald scam.

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"What is ironic is that when he was arguing for The Wire website in a defamation case by BJP President Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, Kapil Sibal argued that it was the right of journalists to ask questions! Here is a complete reversal of stand on his part when he says that he will file a case against OpIndia website for asking questions on his purchase of a company and getting a high-value land by this purchase.

"Sibal’s answers to the South African newspaper were also different at different times. Instead of making a defamation threat, it would be nice of Sibal to clear the air on the allegation. We agree that it is his prerogative to file a defamation suit, but we also need to remind Sibal the basic rule – Telling the truth is not Defamation.

"So, Mr. Sibal, when are you conducting a full-fledged press conference on these allegations reported by OpIndia website and Union Minister Smriti Irani? The nation wants to know!"

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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Apr 21 – Congress objects on agreeing to their own documents. Arguments to start on May 5 

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"The tricks of Congress leadership in National Herald case is coming to an end as the trial court has fixed for the final hearing of submission of documents for May 5. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were evading from the admission of their own documents filed in National Herald submitted in High Court and Supreme Court for the past few months. The problem for Sonia and Rahul is that these documents produced by them in the higher courts prove the case of their illegalities which is now ratified by the Income Tax Department’s fine of Rs.249 crores[77].

"On Saturday, appearing before the Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, petitioner Subramanian Swamy said that the accused Congress leaders either say Yes or No to the documents submitted by themselves in the higher courts, that too sworn under oath. These documents expose the scam in the National Herald newspaper acquisition in covert ways, he said. Instead of countering Swamy, Congress leaders’ advocates preferred to bring the printouts of Swamy’s tweets amounting to “defamation” against Sonia and Rahul. The advocates even brought out the article of PGurus ReTweeted by Swamy about the Income Tax Assessment Orders[78]. The advocates argued that these all amount to defamation, rather than avoiding the boomerang that will happen if they admit a Yes or a No to the documents submitted by them in the higher courts.

"Countering Congress lawyers, Swamy said that these kinds of arguments cannot go on and on and they have to explicitly admit or deny the truth about the documents. As Congress leaders were objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents for a long time, Swamy had produced the copies of the documents of Congress annual returns and documents of Associated Journal and Young Indian and sought Congress leaders should either deny or vouch for the authenticity of their own documents.

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"Apart from this the National Herald case came to a crucial stage after the Income Tax has slapped fine of Rs.249 crores to Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian. The Income Tax Order has proved that Congress claim of giving loan of Rs.90 crores was a total lie and they had engaged in hawala kind of money laundering with dubious Kolkata based shell companies[79]. The Order also said that floating of Young Indian was a covert operation to usurp the huge land assets of the National Herald publishing firm Associated Journal.

"Congress lawyer’s strategy was to delay the case by straightway crossing petitioner Subramanian Swamy for a long time. But Swamy’s strategy was to first bring out the crucial documents in the scam and cut short the crossing procedures, say legal experts. 

"With Saturday’s order by the Magistrate’s, both sides have to argue on the production of the documents in the case. The arguments are to be started on May 5."

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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May 06 – Sonia and Rahul object Swamy’s demand for production and admission of their own documents 

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"With Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy sparring and accusing each other, the May 5th hearing of the National Herald case is going to be an indicator of the forthcoming tussles in the high profile, politically sensitive case. Sonia and Rahul vehemently denied producing the Congress party’s documents and their company documents as demanded by Swamy and even went to the extent of neither denying nor confirming their documents produced by the BJP leader.

"Both sides traded charges for delaying the trial. “He wanted to delay the process and wanted to trade charges against us permanently by coming with new-new demands,” said the battery of Congress lawyers led by R S Cheema, Ramesh Gupta, and Rebecca John. Congress lawyers argued against Swamy’s demands the whole afternoon of more than two hours with Swamy intervening in between several times to provoke them. After heated and tit-for-tat arguments, Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted the case to May 14 and Swamy is expected to start his replies.

"“They (Gandhis) had submitted various documents in the Supreme Court. Now, I am asking them to confront the documents (in this court). The accused should stop wasting the court's time and either admit or deny these documents,” Swamy said, reiterating that Sonia Gandhi should admit or deny whether these documents were hers.

"“Let her just say, these documents were submitted by her in Supreme Court or deny. If deny I can file another case of perjury or contempt of court. You have no choice. Either admit or deny,” Swamy said.

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"The advocates appearing for the Gandhis, however, told the court that Swamy was wasting its time and delaying the trial by filing “unauthenticated documents” in the case. “The applications filed by the complainant are not proper. The documents which the complainant wants to be confronted are neither original nor certified. The court cannot even look at them.”

"“Every time when the complainant has to step into the witness box, he files a new application. Further, he wants summoning of documents but where are the witnesses who will authenticate them? We will admit or deny the original documents, not the photocopies. All these documents have been moved with the purpose to delay the trial and they must be dismissed,” said Congress lawyer Ramesh Gupta.

"“You just admit or deny is these are the documents you people submitted to Supreme Court by sworn affidavit. Then let us start the trial,” reiterated Swamy.

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"Regarding Swamy's submissions that he had found certain documents related to the Income Tax department, lying along with newspapers at his doorstep, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, quipped that it showed the breach in his security.

"“This is the situation. He (Swamy) is a Z-plus security holder, and nobody is able to protect his house[80]. Anyone can come and throw something,” Gupta said. 

"“But the same documents of Income Tax, fining your people of Rs. 250 crores are later submitted by you people in Delhi High Court against Income Tax,” said Swamy producing the High Court Orders asking Congress party to pay first Rs.10 crore to appeal against Rs.250 crores fine on Young Indian[81], the company owned by Sonia and Rahul. Swamy was aided by his legal team led by wife Roxna Swamy, Ishkaran Bhandari, Yatinder Chaudhary and Dilip Kumar.

"According to legal experts, Congress leaders wanted to cross examine Swamy and drag the case out for a long time in crossing and Swamy’s idea is to bring documents first to cut short the crossing. According to senior lawyers, for the past one year, Sonia and Rahul are objecting tooth and nail on Swamy’s demand for production of documents of Congress balance sheets and accounts of the claim of giving Rs.90 crores to National Herald newspaper publishing firm Associated Journals and money flow to Young Indian[82]. Now Income Tax has found that Congress claim of funding AJL was a total lie and the object of Young Indian floating by Sonia and Rahul was to dubiously acquire the land assets worth more than Rs.2000 crores owned by the Associated Journals Limited."

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January 21, 2023 - January 21, 2023. 

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May 14 – Court to pass orders on May 26 for production of documents. Congress continues to object to producing documents 

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"With BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Congress lawyers of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi sparring over the production of documents in the National Herald case, the trial Court has reserved for passing orders on this crucial matter in the case for May 26. On Monday, Swamy insisted that all the documents he sought in the case were produced by Sonia Gandhi in Supreme Court and she must either admit or deny it and can’t delay the process by frivolous arguments.

"“As per main accused Sonia Gandhi’s affidavit all the originals are with her and she produced the copy of these documents. I am having her certified copy. And I also produced the photocopy of the Income Tax Assessment Order putting fine on Young Indian of Rs.249 crores. They also produced the same copy before the High Court and the High Court had asked them to pay Rs.10 crores for entertaining appeal. Now they have to just admit or deny these documents before this Court, rather than wasting time of this court,” said Swamy provoking Congress lawyers by insisting on terming Sonia Gandhi as accused."

What else did they wish an accused person in court to be called? 

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"Swamy’s arguments were vehemently objected by Congress lawyers R S Cheema and Rebecca John who accused Swamy of delaying the process with frivolous demands. “Most of them are photocopies and there is a lot of mischief in the petitions,” they said, arguing that Swamy’s petition for documents lacks merit.

"Swamy said that he will also file to get certified copies of other accused filed documents in the Supreme Court. “Photocopy or not photocopy. Why can’t you admit or deny it? The originals are with you only,” said Swamy.

"After 30 minutes of arguments, counter and cross-cross arguments, the Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted for May 26 to pass Orders on the matter."

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January 21, 2023 - January 22, 2023. 

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May 26 – The Special Court fast tracks NH trial. Allows Swamy to produce documents and summon officials 

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"The two-year-long fierce arguments and counter-arguments for production of documents in the National Herald case between BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Congress leadership came to an end on Saturday, with the Special Court ordering for examination of petitioner Swamy from July 21 and allowing him to produce the documents and summoning of officials to authenticate it. Meanwhile, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal rejected Swamy’s demand for admit or deny by the main accused Sonia Gandhi on the documents produced by him. The newly formed designated court for the trial of MPs and MLAs was also ordered to complete the trial in the politically sensitive case to be finished within a year.

"Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were vehemently objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents from 2016. Earlier, the trial court had ordered for production of documents in January 2016 and High Court has quashed the order citing that the trial court did not hear the version of the accused before passing the order. After this Swamy’s fresh petition for summoning documents were rejected by the court, citing that the demand was very vague and for a large number of documents and not specific.

"Later Swamy made another petition under Section 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for the admission or denial of documents by the accused, citing that the same documents he wanted were already produced by Sonia Gandhi in the Supreme Court. This was considered as a goof-up by Congress lawyers when Delhi High Court upheld the summoning of Congress leaders in December 2015. To prevent the trial, the lawyers approached the Supreme Court and in haste attached many documents which were self-incriminating, say legal experts. They say Swamy filed a petition under Section 294 of CrPC to put Sonia Gandhi in a tight spot. If she admits these documents, she herself admitted the case and if she denies, then perjury case can be filed, they add.

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"“The contention of the complainant is that these are the documents of accused themselves as they were filed along with the Special Leave Petition filed by one of the accused (Sonia Gandhi) in Supreme Court. Be that as it may, this will not give a right to the complainant to get these copies mandatorily admitted or denied by the accused. None of the accused are stated to be the author of any of these documents. The purpose of Section 294 is to truncate the trial, but this does not mean that rules of evidence can be compromised with,” said the Order dismissing Swamy’s demand.

"Observing delay for more than two years in the trial, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal said that after his examination, Swamy can produce the documents and its authenticity can be verified by summoning the concerned officials. Apart from the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited and Young Indian firm’s documents, Swamy wanted authentication of crucial Income Tax Order indicting Sonia and Rahul owned firm Young Indian for hushing up the taxable income of Rs.415 crores and fining of Rs.249 crores.

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"This Income Tax Assessment Order clearly exposes the fraud committed by the top Congress leadership in grabbing the Rs.5000 crores worth land assets and buildings of Associates Journals Limited (AJL) spread across in many cities across the country. The Delhi High Court recently ordered that Young Indian should deposit Rs.10 crores if they wanted to appeal against the Income Tax fine of Rs.249 crores. The IT Order also exposed that Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crores loan to AJL was totally wrong.

"“In these circumstances, keeping in view of the fact that the trial is getting delayed, it has to be put back on the right track. Therefore, in order to streamline this trial, it is directed that the complainant shall first examine himself as the first witness of the prosecution and shall lay the foundation of his case. Thereafter, the witnesses, officials or otherwise to prove the documents by with the complainant further want to prove his case shall be summoned,” said the Special Court, fast-tracking the politically sensitive case."

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January 22, 2023 - January 22, 2023. 

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Jul 21 – Subramanian Swamy starts submitting evidence 

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"With the petitioner Subramanian Swamy on Saturday starting to submit evidence, the politically sensitive National Herald case entered a critical stage. Several times a battery of lawyers for the Congress were objecting to the points submitted by Swamy when he was giving oral evidence by stating the crux of the case before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Samar Vishal.

"Swamy informed the Court that he came to know about the irregularities in running the National Herald newspaper publisher company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) from the late journalist Bhushan Raina, who was the union leader of journalists who worked at the newspaper. Raina told him that journalists were facing salary dues from 2008 onwards.

"During the 2011 period, Swamy said he came to know that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi floated the controversial firm Young Indian. He pointed out that he got curious when Young Indian, a small firm with a capital of just five lakh rupees acquired Associated Journals Limited, a firm of 71 years of working with huge land assets across the country. Swamy said that he also noticed that Passport Office and Tata Consultancy office boards also at the Herald House, located in the Press Enclave Area, ITO in Delhi.

"Swamy pointed out that as per the landmark Supreme Court judgment Indian Express Vs Union of India, this Press Enclave Area is allotted to newspaper publishing firms by the Government at a very subsidised rate. “Therefore, I tried to make enquires, how Herald House belonging to AJL (Associated Journal Limited) could be renting out the premises directly or indirectly to non-newspaper, commercial or government offices,” he said.

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"The petition also said the second accused and Congress President Rahul Gandhi in an email query to Pioneer newspaper journalist J Gopikrishnan wrote that they have no plans to revive National Herald newspaper. Swamy’s this submission was objected to by the Congress lawyers, arguing that his point is objected on the ground of admissibility.

"“Thereafter, I made further enquiries and found that the method by which AJL ended up as a subsidiary of Young Indian (YI) was most curious,” said Swamy. This was also objected to by the Congress lawyers saying this was only an opinion of Swamy. The BJP leader countered that he would produce all the documents in the end after submitting his statements as evidence.

"Another submission of Swamy accused that Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are “undeniably close advisors” of the main accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were vehemently objected to by the Congress lawyers, saying this was only Swamy’s opinion.

"Swamy stated that with just five lakh capital, the newly floated firm Young Indian had acquired 99.1% of the AJL by a claim of settlement by Young Indian of dues of Rs.90 crores by AJL to Congress party. He said this is the crux of the cheating and conspiracy charges in his case and he will produce all documentary evidence to all the submission of evidence made by him. After the 30 minutes-long submission, the Court posted the next hearing for the continuation of evidence to August 25.  After Swamy’s submission of evidence, he will be cross-examined in length by a battery of Congress lawyers led by Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi representing all the seven accused."

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January 22, 2023 - January 22, 2023. 

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Jul 21 – Congress leaders file petition to restrain Subramanian Swamy from Tweeting on NH 

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"The accused Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Motilal Vora filed a petition to restrain the “uncontrollable” petitioner Subramanian Swamy from tweeting about the National Herald case matters. The Congress lawyers filed the petition on Saturday during the starting day of submission of evidence by Swamy in the main case. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal expressed disinterest on the petition first and later asked Swamy to file his views of this petition.

"The petition attached photocopies of many tweets of Swamy calling Sonia as TDK (short form for Devil Tadaka character in Ramayan) and calling Rahul Gandhi as Buddhu (foolish guy). The Congress leaders said that Swamy has crossed all levels in freedom of expression and tweeting of the case matters is sub-judice.

"“That the Applicant has time and again noticed that the complainant has been putting various posts in Social Media regarding the daily proceedings of the instant case for purpose of causing defamation of the accused and vilification of court process... Complainant (Swamy) has been indulging in loud and persistent publicity amounting to an interference with the administration of justice. Before and after every date of hearing he unleashes hostile publicity through tweets, posts in Social Media and/ or statements to the media,” said Congress leaders demanding restraining Swamy from tweeting about the National Herald case.

"The accused Congress leaders said that Swamy’s tweets are detrimental to their rights to a fair trial. “The freedom of expression is an important right, but such a right is not absolute in as much as the Constitution itself, while it grants the freedom under Article 19(1)(a), permitted the legislature to impose reasonable restriction on the right, in the interests of various matters, one of which is the fair administration of justice as protected by Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. Moreover, when the matter is sub-judice, the complainant Swamy) has no right to comment on the day-to-day proceedings and transgress the settled parameters of fair trial,” said the three-page petition attaching photocopies of many Swamy’s tweets on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

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"The petition also pointed out that Swamy had tweeted about the Rs.250 crores Income Tax fine on Young Indian. Congress lawyers argued that this was wrong on the part of Swamy to place the Income Tax documents, which were later kept in a sealed cover. The lawyers also produced Swamy’s Tweeting PGurus article on this regard[83].

"Earlier in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court also the Congress lawyers produced several tweets of Swamy to argue that Swamy maintains personal vendetta and animosity against Sonia and Rahul. Judges did not entertain the production of the tweets. This is the first time Congress leaders file a petition on this regard.

"Coming out from Court, Swamy said that these people (Sonia and Rahul) are still in Emergency mindset and he will give a fitting reply. Within minutes Swamy went ahead, showing his anger by tweeting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should go for medical checkup after Rahul Gandhi’s dramatic hugging inside the Lok Sabha on Friday. He said there would be chances of poisoning though hugging while keeping hidden syringe."

Alarming possibility indeed, and glad he's safe so far. 

Author gives the said tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy in a photographic format. 

"Earlier in 2011, UPA Government filed a similar petition to restrain Swamy during the 2G cases before the Supreme Court. The Government produced newspaper clippings of Subramanian Swamy’s speeches about sending Sonia Gandhi to jail and urging Italian foods in the menu of jails. The Judges dismissed the petition with a smile after the argument of Central Government’s lawyer P P Rao, who repeatedly sought “need of some sort of restriction on this person” who has no limits."

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January 22, 2023 - January 22, 2023. 

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Aug 05 – Urban Development Ministry issues notice to takeover the Herald House 

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"In a further confirmation of illegalities in the National Herald case, the Urban Development Ministry has issued a notice to take over the Herald House, the headquarters of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), publisher of the now-defunct National Herald newspaper. The notice was issued to the AJL, who got the land for publishing newspaper at subsidised rates. The Ministry’s action came after its probe team found that the Herald House and premises allotted in the Press Enclave in ITO, Delhi was not being used for the publication of a newspaper for the past 10 years, which is a violation of the allotment rules.

"For the past eight years, the holders of the building (literally the firm Young Indian (YI) controlled by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) were earning more than Rs.80 lakhs ($117,000) per month by renting out two floors of the building to Passport Seva Kendra.

"In the last week of December 2017, the Income Tax department has fined Rs.250 crores ($36.5 million) on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi controlled firm Young Indian, which took over AJL in “covert and fraudulent” ways. A few months back, Delhi High Court had ordered YI to deposit Rs.10 crores for entertaining its appeal against the Income Tax fine order[84].

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"According to highly placed sources in the Urban Development Ministry, two months back a probe team had inspected the premises of Herald House and found that no newspaper publishing activity was happening for the past 10 years. The plot for Herald House was allotted in the mid-50s at a very subsidised rates for publication of newspaper by AJL like other media organisations in the Press Enclave Area. As per the lease agreement with the Government, AJL was expected to return the place as and when it stopped newspaper publication.

"In a similar way, prime lands were allotted for the publication of National Herald across the country. The lands were allotted at very cheap rates in Lucknow, Patna, Mumbai, Panchkula, Bhopal, Indore and all these land allotments are facing probes by various state governments.

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"Urban Development Ministry was acting on the complaint filed by the main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. After Swamy’s expose, the Ministry has received several complaints of similar violations against many other buildings in the Press Enclave Area and probe teams would be asked to conduct investigation and details of the illegal holders of the premises in the garb of newspaper publication[85].

"In the trial court, the National Herald case is now during the process of submission of evidence by the petitioner Subramanian Swamy, who has started his deposition on July 21. The next hearing is scheduled for August 25. The accused Congress leaders also filed a petition in the court for restraining Swamy from tweeting about the case details and defaming them[86]."

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January 22, 2023 - January 22, 2023. 

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Aug 08 – IT catches Rahul for hushing up YI Directorship of Rs.154 crores income, approaches Delhi HC to quash order  

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"The Delhi High Court on Wednesday denied relief to Congress President Rahul Gandhi from restraining Income Tax for reassessing his Income Tax return of 2011-2012, for hiding his Directorship in Young Indian in the National Herald case. After slapping a fine of Rs.250 crores on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi firm Young Indian in December 2017, for hushing up the Rs.414 crores income in 2011, the Income Tax found that Rahul Gandhi hushed up his Directorship in Young Indian in tax returns as well.

"Income Tax served notice on Rahul Gandhi for re-assessing his Income Tax return of 2011-2012 in March 2018 and he approached the Delhi High Court for quashing the Income Tax move accusing them of coercion. However, the Judges declined to give relief. The Court also rejected Rahul’s demand to ban media from reporting the Income Tax procedures in the National Herald case.

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"The bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla listed the matter for further hearing on August 14, after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta opposed issuance of any interim order by the court. The ASG, however, assured the bench that till the next date, no coercive step would be taken against Rahul by the tax department.

"Rahul’s lawyers led by Arvind Datar argued that they had received no income from Young Indian and sought an interim order from the court as the case related to the assessment is listed in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on Thursday (August 9).

"Here the interesting fact is that the National Herald scam was exposed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on November 1, 2012. This shows that during the filing of his Income Tax Returns of 2011-2012, Rahul cleverly hid his Directorship of his then secret firm Young Indian, floated to covertly acquire the entire assets of defunct newspaper National Herald.

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"According to the tax department, Rahul's assessment for the years 2011-12 was decided to be reopened as he did not disclose that he was a director in the company -- Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI) - since 2010.

"As per the tax department, the shares Rahul has in YI would lead him to have an income of Rs.154 crores and not about Rs.68 lakhs, as was assessed by it earlier.

"The department has in the instant case applied section 147 of the Income Tax Act, which provides for bringing under the tax net any income which has escaped assessment in the original assessment.

"Rahul’s lawyers said the query put to their client during the scrutiny of his assessment was whether he had any interest in any company or sister concern in which he was a director and he had replied in the negative as YI was a Section 25 company, a non-profit entity, and hence no director would have any interest in it. To this, the bench remarked, “in which event, it is a nice conduit.”

"The tax department has already issued a demand notice for around Rs.250 crores to YI for the assessment year 2011-12. Delhi High Court in March 2018 has already ordered Young Indian to deposit Rs.10 crores if they wanted to appeal against the Income Tax fine of Rs.250 crores[87]."

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January 22, 2023 - January 22, 2023. 

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Aug 14 Income Tax also catches Sonia Gandhi for hushing up Directorship of YI and hushing Rs.154 crores 

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"Like son Rahul[88], mother Sonia Gandhi is also caught by the Income Tax Department for hiding the Directorship of National Herald in their tax returns and evasion of taxable income of Rs.154 crores ($23 million). Accusing Income Tax department of coercive actions, Congress former President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that they did not earn any income in the Young Indian- National Herald newspaper deal. Congress leader and lawyer P Chidambaram argued for Sonia Gandhi on her petition against the Income Tax order to reassess her annual tax return of 2011-2012 for not disclosing the Directorship in the Young Indian, a company floated to take over the newspaper publishing firm Associated Journals in late 2010. Apart from Sonia Gandhi, another Director and Congress leader Oscar Fernandez also filed a similar petition in the case before the bench hearing Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s petition on the same matter.

"Like her son, Sonia Gandhi also requested the court to ban the media from reporting on the Income Tax related issues in the National Herald case. The Court rejected the demand reiterated by Chidambaram on behalf of Sonia Gandhi. The Bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla posted the case to August 16 for further hearing. Arguing for more than an hour, Chidambaram said that even if there was taxable income, it would not go into the hands of Young Indian’s shareholders like the former Congress President, who owns 38 percent of the firm. Rahul Gandhi also has 38 percent shares in the firm. Oscar Fernandez and Motilal Vora have 12 percent shares each.

"After hearing part arguments, when the court said it will issue a formal notice, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta said there was no need for it as he was present in the court. The court, thereafter, listed the matter for further hearing on August 16, when the ASG will argue in defence of the action taken by the tax department.

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"The court said that once it reserved its judgment on the conclusion of the arguments, it will ask the tax department not to take any coercive steps till the verdict was pronounced. The bench also did not issue any order restraining the reporting of contents of the petitions filed on behalf of Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and party leader Oscar Fernandez.

"The Gandhis and Fernandes have challenged the reopening of their tax assessment for the year 2011-12 in March this year. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Rahul Gandhi, said that arguments during the hearing may be reported and urged the court to order that confidentiality be maintained regarding the contents of the petitions.

"However, the bench declined to issue any such direction saying “we cannot go into all this” as it would be akin to going on a “wild-goose chase” as it was not known who reports contents of the matter and who is the source of the information.

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"As per the department, the shares Rahul and Sonia have in Young Indian would lead them to have an income of Rs 154 crores each. During his arguments, Chidambaram accused Income Tax of relying on the complaints filed by Subramanian Swamy, without taking his name throughout his arguments.

"Chidambaram contended, “when debt is converted to equity, it does not result in any income and, even if it does, it would not result in income for the shareholder.” He said that even if it was accepted that income was generated, “it cannot be the income of YI and its shareholders in the same assessment year of 2011-12.”

"He also argued that the tax department has “incorrectly invoked and applied” the formula for calculating the tax liability of Sonia Gandhi when her assessment for 2011-12 was reopened. Chidambaram said that when his client became a shareholder of Young Indian, she received nothing else, not even property, except 1,900 shares in the company.

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"He also termed as “incorrect” the tax department's claim that Rs 90 crores loaned to AJL, leading to the debt, was bogus or paper loan, saying this is not correct as the amount was loaned through 137 cheques issued over a 9-10-year period.”

"Among other objections raised by him against the reopening of the assessment was that the communication sent to his client informing about the development was not digitally signed. The assessment was reopened in March 2018 on the orders of a senior officer who was monitoring the case from 2014, he said.

"Meanwhile, in the trial court, Subramanian Swamy’s deposition and submission of documents will continue August 25[89]. In the trial court, the Congress leaders also demanded for restraining Swamy from Tweeting about the case. “I will give them a befitting reply,” said Swamy[90]."

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January 22, 2023 - January 22, 2023. 

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Aug 24 – The scam gets murkier. UDM’s Show Cause Notice exposes more frauds 

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"The details of more frauds committed by the Gandhi family in grabbing the National Herald newspaper’s headquarters Herald House are exposed in the probe conducted by the Urban Development Ministry. The Show Cause Notice issued to the National Herald newspaper publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL) reveals that the staffers also lied to the Ministry’s probe team about the lease allotment details being changed again, by UPA Government controlled by Sonia Gandhi in January 2013.

"The Urban Development Ministry started probe on the complaint filed by BJP leader and petitioner Subramanian Swamy on March 2018 urging the Government to take back the Herald House from AJL for violating the land lease conditions. The details of the Show Cause Notice reveal that more than half acre land in the much coveted Press Enclave Area in ITO, New Delhi was allotted for publication of National Herald newspaper for just around Rs.50000 in 1962.

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"The allotment was for printing and publication activities of newspapers and Government allotted the prime land for an extremely low price. In 1967, Government allowed the newspapers to rent out the higher-level floors while maintaining ground and first floor for newspaper publishing activities. This decision was taken after the hectic lobbying by newspaper barons for getting some revenue from renting out the higher floors of the building for commercial purposes. Except for hotel, cinema, and restaurant business, the higher floors were allowed for other business as per the dilution of the lease agreements approved by the Urban Ministry in 1967.

"This rule was further diluted on January 7, 2013, by the UPA Government on the request of AJL. It must be remembered that this dilution happened two months after Subramanian Swamy exposed the National Herald scam on November 1, 2012. In mid-2011, after Sonia – Rahul controlled firm Young Indian covertly took over the AJL, the first two floors were rented out to Passport Seva Kendra related operations for a huge monthly rent of Rs.80 lakhs.

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"“On request of AJL, vide letter dated 7-1-2013 the clause 7 of the perpetual lease was further modified to the extent that instead of basement and 1st floor, basement and any one floor of the building are required to be used for press and offices of the lesse,” said the two-page Show Cause Notice to AJL detailing the violations.

"Further, in order to confirm the present status of the activities in the premises, a three-member committee comprising officers from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs was formed to inspect the premises on the 9th of April 2018. The Committee observed that no printing press was functioning at any floor of the premises (Herald House) and no paper stock was found anywhere. However, 4th floor was stated to be used by the AJL for their press related office. As informed by AJL officials, the printing of the weekly being published by them takes place in the printing press of Indian Express at Noida. The Committee was also made available newspapers which it has started publishing again on the 24th of September 2017. When enquired whether the paper was being published before the 24th of September 2017, it was informed that the publishing was earlier stopped, and employees were given Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) due to the poor financial condition of the company. As there was no printing activity seen anywhere in the entire premises, it implies that the premises are not being used for the purpose for which the land was allotted. i. e. running of press and the terms and conditions of the lease agreement are not being adhered to.

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"“It was observed by the inspecting team that most of the areas of the premises have been rented out. If the premises are not being used for the primary use of printing press and related purpose, the renting out of the premises itself becomes misuse of allotted land,” said the Show Cause Notice directing AJL to reply within 30 days, invoking takeover of the building for violations.

"From the above Show Cause Notice, it is evident that the new launch of weekly by National Herald (which was a daily newspaper earlier till April 2008) in September 2017 was just a fraud to save the thousands of crores worth properties grabbed by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi firm Young Indian. The irony is that many pliable journalists joined to work in the namesake weekly launched, while forgetting the humongous fraud of looting the Rs.5000-crores-worth land and building assets of the National Herald newspaper by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi."

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January 22, 2023 - January 22, 2023. 

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Aug 25 – Swamy produces Income Tax authenticated documents puncturing Congress Rs.90 cr loan claim as evidence 

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"BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday produced authenticated Income Tax department’s assessment order against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi controlled firm Young Indian in the trial court as his evidence. Congress leaders’ lawyers objected vehemently when Swamy produced the 200 plus page Income Tax order which imposed fine on Young Indian of Rs.250 crores for hushing up the taxable income of Rs.415 crores earned through the acquisition of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of National Herald newspaper in 2011.

"Congress leaders’ lawyers R S Cheema and Rebecca John argued that the production of Income Tax documents is “beyond the pleading.” During his second day of deposition, Swamy submitted the Income Tax order in a sealed cover with a covering letter from Income Tax authorities to the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal. Producing the document as his evidence, Swamy said that the Income Tax findings clearly says that Congress claim of Rs.90 crores to AJL was a total lie and non-existent one. This lie was floated to take over the AJL by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi by floating Young Indian.

"“My investigations into the claim of AJL revealed that the AJL claimed to have received Rs.90 crores as loan from AICC has not been substantiated by either the account books of AJL or the of the Congress party. This was investigated by the Income Tax authorities and they had rejected the claim that such a loan was received by AJL from the AICC,” said Swamy while producing the Income Tax authenticated assessment order.

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"The previous week, P Chidambaram appearing on behalf of Sonia Gandhi claimed that Rs.90 crores was paid to AJL by Congress through 137 cheques during the past 10 years from 2004. The Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta countered that this was a bogus claim and was not yet supported by any documents and both parties have not proved this, though Income Tax gave them sufficient time.

"After the arguments and counterarguments on the acceptability of the Income Tax Order, the Magistrate observed that court can check the authenticity of the document by summoning the signatories of the officials in the submitted documents. In his one hour long second day of pieces of evidence, Swamy also produced documents of Congress claim of Rs.90 crores loan. This document was earlier submitted by Sonia Gandhi in Supreme Court, challenging the summons of the trial court in 2015. Countering the objections of Congress lawyers, Swamy said that he was only submitting the documents submitted by “you people” in the Supreme Court.

"He also produced the documents of AJL’s resolution by issuing its 99.1 percent shares to Young Indian and claiming that none of the AJL’s directors have interest in Young Indian’s Board. But all the AJL Directors Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda became the Directors Young Indian, said Swamy. The Congress lawyers objected to most of the documents produced by Swamy even the same leadership in Congress party, AJL and Young Indian. For further evidence, the Court had scheduled the next date on September 17.

"Meanwhile, Motilal Vora again filed a petition against Swamy for tweeting against them and about the case matters."

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January 22, 2023 - January 22, 2023. 

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Sep 10 – Delhi High Court dismisses Sonia-Rahul Gandhi petitions against Income Tax re-assessing in NH case 

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"Time has started ticking for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed the pleas of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Oscar Fernandes challenging reopening of their tax assessments for 2011-12. The Income Tax issued orders to re-assess the tax returns, after finding that the Congress leaders did not reveal their directorship in the firm Young Indian, which took over the National Herald newspaper publishing firm Associated Journals Limited (AJL).  Dismissing the petitions, the Bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla said that Income Tax has right to issue such orders and directed the petitioners to approach the appropriate forum, if aggrieved by the Income Tax’s order.

"Sonia Gandhi was represented by the former Finance Minister and senior lawyer P Chidambaram and Rahul Gandhi was represented by noted tax lawyer Arvind Datar. Many Congress leaders feel that Chidambaram had gossiped against Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi and got them removed from the National Herald cases.

"The High Court has already rejected the Congress leaders’ demand for restraining media houses from publishing the news related to Income Tax process in the National Herald cases. It is an irony that Chidambaram who nowadays speaks too much on freedom of expression argued for media banning in National Herald case.

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"The Income Tax Department, in December 2017, fined Young Indian for Rs.250 crores for suppressing the taxable income of Rs.414 crores in 2011-2012. PGurus has already detailed the Income Tax Order on this matter[91]. After this Income Tax issued orders in March 2018 for re-assessing the income of the leaders as they had suppressed their directorship in Young Indian.

"The Young Indian was floated in December 2010 and the scam got exposed only when Subramanian Swamy exposed the matter on November 1, 2012. This shows that Sonia and Rahul kept the directorship and floating of Young Indian as a secret and hence did not declare to Income Tax in 2011 & 2012 March Income Tax Returns.

"The High Court had on August 16 reserved its order on the pleas of the three leaders after the Income Tax Department had contended that Rahul Gandhi's tax assessment for 2011-12 was reopened as material facts were concealed. The bench had orally asked the tax department not to take any coercive step against Sonia, Rahul, and Fernandes till pronouncement of its verdict.

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"Appearing for Income Tax Department, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had argued that the Congress leaders had alleged mala fide on the part of the tax department but had not made any averments in this regard. Congress leaders accused Income Tax of “coercing” and acting on the complaints of the BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

"The Income Tax also found that Congress claim of giving Rs.90 crores to AJL was bogus and this was bogus claim was floated to acquire the assets of AJL, which is more than Rs.5000 crores land assets across the country.  The tax department had said the shares Rahul has in Young Indian would lead him to have an income of Rs.154 crores and not about Rs.68 lakhs, as assessed earlier.

"Meanwhile, Subramanian Swamy’s submission of evidence is going on in the trial court and the next hearing is posted for September 17. After this, he will be cross-examined by a battery of Congress lawyers."

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January 22, 2023 - January 23, 2023. 

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Sep 14 – Mr. Arun Jaitley, hope you have learnt your lesson for treating Sonia family with kid gloves Jaitley and the DDCA Sonia Gandhi and the Agusta Westland deal 

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"Health challenged Finance Minister (FM) Arun Jaitley is being taken to the cleaners by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi. This all-out offensive must be a lesson to Jaitley and all in the BJP who are reticent about attacking the almost-but-never-the-first Family of India (Family). Arun Jaitley is widely seen as a go-between with the Family and has, in the past, ensured that any attack on them was well and properly diluted. Take the case of National Herald - Jaitley dubiously comes out in an interview with Barkha Dutt and states that the case will be over, if that Rs.90 crores loan is given back[92]. How can a Finance Minister blabber like this when the Courts, as well as Income Tax, were seized of the case? Was he trying to give a “message” to the Income Tax sleuths?"

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"Jaitley and the DDCA 

"The header photo says it all. Jaitley’s major weakness was and is Delhi’s cricket affairs. It is a known fact that without Sonia Gandhi’s blessings, he can’t continue even for a minute in the Delhi Cricket Association which is popularly known as DDCA (Delhi District Cricket Association). Jaitley was controlling this powerful cricket body for the past two decades and now his buddy Rajat Sharma is in charge of this coveted body. These politicians literally kicked out iconic cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi and BJP’s suspended MP Kirti Azad, who was a member of 1983 World Cup winning squad.

"See what Jaitley’s kid-gloves approach to the Family has come to. Ingrate Rahul Gandhi has not missed a chance to kick the FM on fugitive Vijay Mallya’s allegations. The Family goes for the jugular when they are cornered and do not let the minions or deal makers do the dirty work. As a Finance Minister, he has been accused of diluting many cases related to anti-corruption, which was the prime reason BJP got an absolute majority in 2014. All this “karuna” shown to the Family and nothing in return!

"It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mistake for accommodating Jaitley who managed to lose a safe Lok Sabha seat that has been with BJP for many years. Add to that Modi allotted plum posts like Defence, Information and Broadcasting, apart from the Finance and Corporate Affairs Ministry. The basic problem with Jaitley is that he is always an advocate of the Bombay Club, controlled by Tata, the Ambanis and Essar. Jaitley has the bad habit of jumping straight into the Defense side of arguments, despite being on the side of Prosecution! It is still a wonder why the Prime Minister allowed an unwell Jaitley who has a danger of infection back in the Finance Ministry. It is a complete surprise because Piyush Goyal was doing a competent job in the Finance Ministry and undoing several mistakes in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and was taking positive measures and responding well to people’s demands.

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"Sonia Gandhi and the Agusta Westland deal

"One more glaring instance of Jaitley’s understanding with the Family must be told. In April 2016, in the Rajya Sabha, Subramanian Swamy was supposed to lead the debate on Agusta Helicopter scam involving Sonia Gandhi. But mysteriously, when the debate started, a political novice, BJP’s Bhupender Yadav started initiating the debate and wasted 20 minutes without uttering the word “Sonia Gandhi”! That day Jaitley was not present in the House as if he wanted to distance himself from the attack of Swamy on Sonia. After Yadav’s boring speech, Swamy got a chance to speak and it was a full-frontal assault on Sonia Gandhi, a rarity in the Indian Parliament[93].

"After a few days, the issue was debated in Lok Sabha and the non-member Jaitley was present, as a Minister. Sonia Gandhi was also present. Why was Sonia present? Because she got an assurance that a Rajya Sabha-like attack was not going to happen. It is a shame that BJP with an absolute majority in Lok Sabha never attacked Sonia Gandhi on Agusta issue in the lower house! This has the signature of Jaitley written all over it.

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"We have seen Jaitley’s dirty games in Aircel-Maxis to help his buddy Chidambaram. We also have seen the reports of Jaitley’s daughter being a legal retainer of fugitive Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi firm[94]. As per Jaitley’s admission, they received some fees and that was later returned in December 2017! Due to his immense clout in the media, Jaitley has managed to hush up the matter and Congress also did not rake it up.  But now Congress is getting desperate and will not miss any chance to attack the government and Jaitley keeps providing ammunition.

"I don’t know if Jaitley or his family members ever held a legal retainership of Vijay Mallya and his firms. But it is a fact that it was Jaitley, who as BJP’s Karnataka in-charge helped Mallya to enter Rajya Sabha again after he ended his Congress-supported term. It is a known fact that Vijay Mallya and Jaitley have good relations. Otherwise, the State Bank of Indian (SBI) and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI)-like Public Sector Banks would have put Mallya in jail by 2015.

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"Jaitley owes an answer to the nation on this - Were complainant banks aware that Vijay Mallya’s Look Out Notice by CBI was diluted? It is easily seen that the CBI must have done it after the Banks' message that they can manage settlement with him. The then pliable CBI Director Anil Sinha who wasted two years in Aircel-Maxis case was totally under the control of Arun Jaitley. This is a known fact.

"We all know that it was only after PM Modi gave strong instructions that the CBI under new Director Alok Verma started acting against the corrupt Chidambaram clan. 

"Arun Jaitley must remember that the Family ensured his defeat in 2014 by putting up a strong candidate and now is being mercilessly attacked by Rahul Gandhi. All his good deeds towards the Family have done him no good."

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January 23, 2023 - January 23, 2023. 

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Sep 17 – Swamy completes submission of evidence. Congress leaders to start cros on October 27 

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Shouldn't that be

"Sep 17 – Swamy completes submission of evidence. Congress leaders to start cross on October 27"? 

Or is 'cros' now the official shortform for cross-examination 

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"With BJP leader Subramanian Swamy ending his submission of evidence in the National Herald case on Monday, the trial court has posted the case for starting of cross-examination on October 27.  All the accused Congress leaders are expected to bring senior lawyers to cross-examine Swamy, which is the most interesting part in the politically sensitive National Herald case, where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are also caught by the Income Tax Dept. (IT) for hushing up Rs.414 crores taxable income, facing a Rs.250 crores penalty.

"Today (September 17) was the third day of the submission of evidence by Swamy. As soon as Swamy ended the submission, the Congress lawyers demanded to start the cross-examination by asking one question. This was a clever move by Congress lawyers to prevent Swamy from providing further evidence in between the next posting of the case. Sensing the Congress move, Swamy said that he is not prepared for the cross-examination and the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted the case to start crossing on October 27.

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"In his one-hour long submission of evidence today, Swamy concentrated on the production of documents related to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi in the formation of new firm Young Indian and the acquisition of National Herald newspaper publishing firm Associated Journal Limited (AJL). Most of the documents and evidence submitted by Swamy were objected to by Congress leaders, accusing him of going “beyond the complaint.”

"“Thereafter, accused No: 3 Mr. Motilal Vora as representative of Young Indian and also as Treasurer of the Congress party at that time approached the Chairman of Managing Director of AJL, who was also Motilal Vora and made the proposals that since AJL was not in a position to discharge or liquidate the debt, Young Indian as owner of the debt will accept insisted of nine crores or thereabouts issue fresh shares at the 1937 price of Rs.10,” said Swamy submitting the documents. Congress lawyers objected to Swamy’s statements that Vora did all illegalities knowingly.

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"Congress lawyers also objected to the production of journalist J Gopikrishnan’s emails to Rahul Gandhi where the latter clearly says that he has no intention to re-launch National Herald newspaper. Congress lawyers argued that these emails are not at all the part of the case.

"Completing the submission of evidence, Swamy said that all the accused including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul of engaging in criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation of properties and cheating.

"Meanwhile, on October 6, the arguments by Congress leaders and Swamy will take place on the Congress leaders’ objections on the “highly objectionable” tweeting by Swamy."

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January 23, 2023 - January 23, 2023. 

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Oct 06 – Congress demands Court restrain Swamy from Tweeting 

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"Congress leaders on Saturday demanded interim stay on restraining BJP leader Subramanian Swamy from “derogatory style” of tweeting about the National Herald case and Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.  However, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal did not heed the demands and posted the case for further arguments on October 20, as Swamy sought time to reply.

"The Courtroom was full of fun and the Judge seemed to have enjoyed when Congress lawyers started reading out and produced more than 2000 tweets of Swamy accusing Sonia and Rahul. The Congress leaders lead lawyer R S Cheema said that Swamy is always mentioning Sonia Gandhi as TDK. He said that TDK is short for Tadaka. “Tadaka was Rakshasi (lady demon) who killed many Brahmins and was killed by Lord Rama,” said Cheema, leading to laughter in the courtroom. Cheema cited several times that Swamy was calling his clients as TDK and Buddhu. However, he did not specify who Buddhu is.

"“He is tweeting wildly. Even court procedures were misinterpreted. He is abusing us also. He is calling us Congi lawyers. What is the meaning of this? We are lawyers and not Congi lawyers,” Cheema went on, citing many tweets of Swamy in his 30-minute arguments. However senior lawyers like Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi were not present. There is a rumor in the Congress circles that former Finance Minister P Chidambaram had complained to Sonia Gandhi about the poor performance of his colleagues and got them removed from the case."

They seem to lack brains. 

Congi is obviously short for Congress(I)! So yes, if they defend the half axis DNA family, they are definitely congi lawyers! 

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"After the Congress lawyer’s arguments of more than 30 minutes, Swamy said that he needs time to reply to all these allegations. “Why seeking time? Do you need to tweet again? Within half an hour you will start tweeting,” Cheema commented when Judge posted the case to October 20. Judge did not heed to the Congress demand of interim stay. He was seen most of the time enjoying with a smile when the lawyers were reading out Swamy’s “derogatory” tweets.

"Coming out from the court, Swamy told the media that on October 20, he will give a fitting reply to the Congress leadership, who is nowadays talking too much on freedom of expression. ... "

Author gives another tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy, again in photographic format. This one describes the session in Patiala Court as :interesting and enjoyable", and promises a fitting response at the next session of the Court, "which will (be) even more interesting and enjoyable"! 

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January 23, 2023 - January 23, 2023. 

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Oct 16 – Swamy’s anti-corruption, legal battles and its effect on South Indian politics 

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"Subramanian Swamy’s efforts to cleanse southern states’ politics has started yielding results. Tamil Nadu politics minus Chidambaram’s (PC) influence will be ethical and healthy. Swamy’s long legal battle with PC & his corrupt family is reaching its logical conclusion. In fact, Congresspeople should thank Dr. Swamy for prosecuting corrupt PC so that the Grand Old Party can be liberated from the maximum corrupt practices promoted by Chidambaram since he became a power centre in the party. Chidambaram was the architect and author of all the mega scams in India namely 2G, Coal, Non-Performing Assets (NPA) scam, Aircel Maxis, NDTV, Vasan Eye Care, Saradha Scam, Forex derivates scam[95], Airbus scandal to name a few that rocked the nation.

"It was Subramanian Swamy in August 2018, who unlocked the clandestine relationship between PC, Ahmed Patel with Congress party’s Karnataka money bag D K Shivakumar and handed over the evidence to investigative agencies leading to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registering case against DK recently[96]. IT department has already collected enough evidence against this agent of PC and Ahmed Patel who with his set of conduits’ operated cash collection for his Delhi bosses.  Incidentally, the set of information regarding the corrupt trio was provided to Swamy by a rival group of disgruntled Congress leaders unhappy with the JD(S)-Congress party alliance to form the collation government.  A stream of classified information is flowing now due to the vertical spilt in the Congress party that includes information on the controversial Govind Raju diary wherein the Income Tax (IT) department has raised demand from the tainted Congress MLC.

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"With the seizure of the Rs.54 crores-worth properties of Karti Chidambaram, there is a huge unrest in the entire Congress party. The imminent action that was stalled by certain forces in the government seems to have been broken by the Prime Minister’s (PM) interference on the specific complaint made by Subramanian Swamy to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The Congress leaders and associates likely to be prosecuted are P Chidambaram & family, Robert Vadra, Ahmed Patel, BS Hooda, DK Shivakumar, and Virbhadra Singh. In the National Herald case, Swamy has shown the Indian courts to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and now they are also facing Income Tax notices. Modi government has yielded to the advice of Swamy to fast-track investigations against the Congress leadership so that BJP can go to the 2019 elections with the conviction that they have delivered on the election promise of dealing with corruption head-on. PMO has instructed the investigative agencies to fast-track pending investigation to bring confidence in the common masses, and this is sure to bring floating votes back to the BJP.

"Swamy has vowed to track down all the White-Collar criminals to cleanse the politics. After hunting down Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case, P Chidambaram & family in multiple corruption cases, BS Hooda in HUDA case, DK Shivakumar in Hawala case linked to AP & PC, Swamy is likely to push for the prosecution of the culprits in the court of law."

Heaven grant his success in this!

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"Karnataka and Tamil Nadu politics will likely witness a tremendous structural change in the next few days. Subramanian Swamy is a man in a hurry to convict the Netas who have looted the country and they are responsible for the entire mess in the country including poverty, Naxalism, poor health care and disastrous education system, and a poor justice system. According to his own words, “Corruption in India is the biggest cause of misery for millions for native Indians and I have taken a pledge to wipe it off from the country with or without the support of the government machinery.”

"Apart from corruption cases, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are eagerly looking to Swamy’s legal battles to free Tirupati Temple and many temples in Kerala from Government’s control. It is a known fact that temple money is being diverted for other purposes."

Heaven grant him success!

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January 23, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Oct 20 – Swamy demands authentication of his tweets from Congress lawyer. Crossing of Swamy in NH case to begin on Nov 17 

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"Giving a surprise to Congress lawyers, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy started his counter-arguments in the National Herald case tweeting controversy by demanding authentication of his more than 2000 tweets submitted by the accused leaders. “You have demanded authenticated or certified copy when I submitted the copy of Income Tax Orders against you. You people even demanded when I submitted the copy of Sonia’s Gandhi’s affidavit in Supreme Court served to me. That time you demanded me to comply with the provisions of Evidence Act. Now you must also adhere to those provisions of Evidence Act.

"“I don’t know you have committed perjury or changes in my 2000 tweets photocopy produced by you. So, you must also get authentication from Twitter,” said Swamy starting his counterarguments, seeking dismissal of the petition filed by accused Motilal Vora, seeking to restrain tweeting about National Herald case matters.

"This argument of Swamy has confused the Congress lawyers as there are no prescribed rules on how to authenticate a tweet. Swamy did not agree to Congress lawyers’ suggestions on proof on downloading. As Twitter is a US-based firm, the real authentication has to come from US Department of Justice, says legal experts, adding that this is still a grey area in Indian laws.

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"Putting an end to the criss-cross arguments, Additional Chief Magistrate Samar Vishal asked Swamy to continue his arguments on the merits of the petition filed by Congress leaders. “They assume, TDK and Buddhu, I meant is about Sonia and Rahul. I have no objection on that and let them assume whatever it is. I am making comments on social media and nothing to do with obstruction of justice in this case. Have I said against the honourable and learned Judge? Their arguments that I interfere in the administration of justice or sub judice and all are totally wrong,” said Swamy reiterating the dismissal of “frivolous” petition.

"The Congress lawyers also objected to Swamy’s mentioning in Twitter as “Congi Lawyers.” “What do you mean by Congi?” asked agitated lead lawyer R S Cheema. Ridiculing Congress lawyers, Swamy said he described them as Congi lawyers as they represent Congress (Indira) faction leaders. “It is my opinion.”

"“We have not called you Sanghi complainant. We are professionals. We don’t belong to a party,” said Cheema. “There are a lot of Congress factions. I, O, S, A. In short form these people are known as Congi and as you represent them, you are known as Congi lawyers,” Swamy retorted, reiterating Congi is a not a defamatory word. He also produced various judgments upholding freedom of expression, seeking dismissal of the petition of Congress leaders.

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"Putting an end to the heated exchanges, the Judge reserved for Orders on this regard on November 17. He also said that the crossing of Swamy by Congress lawyers in the main case will also start on November 17, as the earlier fixed day October 27 is a holiday.

"“You (Swamy) will enjoy when you are in the cross, you'll see the real Cheema that day,” said Advocate Cheema, while the Judge pronouncing the next day hearing."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Nov 12 – Government issues notice to Herald House to vacate by November 15. Congress leadership rushes to

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"Step-by-step, drip-by-drip, the long arm of the law has started catching up with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald fraud. The Urban Development Ministry issued notice to the defunct National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) to vacate Herald House in Delhi by November 15, citing violations in the allotment and illegal usage of the building. In the evening Congress leadership rushed to Delhi High Court and the case is posted for tomorrow (November 13)."

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"Court Covert acquisition by Shell companies 

"AJL had stopped publishing the newspaper National Herald and other two papers in Hindi and Urdu in 2008 and the public limited company is now covertly acquired in 2010 by a shell firm called Young Indian, floated by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with 76 percent share ownership. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in 2016, filed a complaint to Urban Development Ministry to take over the Herald House, citing the blatant violations and illegalities in the garb of journalism[97].

"From 2011, after the takeover of AJL by the shell firm floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Herald House was rented out to Passport Seva Kendra and the controllers of this prime property were getting Rs.80 lakhs per month.

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"The plea of AJL, challenging the Urban Development Ministry ending the lease and asking it to vacate the premises by November 15, is scheduled to come up for a hearing Tuesday before Justice Sunil Gaur.

"The plea alleged that the Land and Development Office's order was “illegal, unconstitutional, arbitrary, tainted with malafide and without authority and jurisdiction.”

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"The petition, filed through advocates Sunil Fernandes and Priyansha Indra Sharma, said that the Centre has warned them of action under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 if they failed to vacate the premises. One of the grounds mentioned in the L&DO order is that no press has been functioning in the premises for last at least 10 years and that it is being used only for commercial purposes in violation of the lease deed.

"After Subramanian Swamy’s case and after the bail of Sonia and Rahul in December 2015, the Congress leadership started a website of National Herald to fool the law. The Congress leadership also published once in a while some supplements of National Herald to maintain the Herald House, which is expected to be worth more than Rs.1000 crores. Some pliable journalists were also appointed to pretend as if there was newspaper activity."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Nov 20 – Court rejects Congress petition to restrain Subramanian Swamy from tweeting in NH case 

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"The fast-track court handling National Herald case on Monday dismissed senior Congress leader Motilal Vora's plea seeking to restrain complainant Subramanian Swamy from tweeting about the case and “derogatory language”, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal rejected Vora's plea, also an accused in the case, saying there was nothing to show that the tweets caused any damage to the trial of the case or any prejudice to the court.

"It is interesting to note that Sonia and Rahul never filed a complaint against Swamy’s tweeting, though all the produced tweets by Vora were attacking mother and son. Vora, in his application, had alleged that Swamy was trying to influence the court proceedings with his tweets. He also accused Swamy of using derogatory language against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi often in the social media platform. The court said the tweets cited by Vora “cannot be said to interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice nor can be said to prejudice the due course of any judicial proceedings, firstly because no such instance due to which the applicant can say this has either been stated in the application, nor has been put forth in the argument.”

"It is interesting to note that Sonia and Rahul never filed a complaint against Swamy’s tweeting, though all the produced tweets by Vora were attacking mother and son. Vora, in his application, had alleged that Swamy was trying to influence the court proceedings with his tweets. He also accused Swamy of using derogatory language against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi often in the social media platform. The court said the tweets cited by Vora “cannot be said to interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice nor can be said to prejudice the due course of any judicial proceedings, firstly because no such instance due to which the applicant can say this has either been stated in the application, nor has been put forth in the argument.”

"“The trial is going on and has reached at the stage of evidence, and I am unable to find anything on record nor anything has been put forth to show that these tweets may have caused any damage to the trial or any prejudice to the court,” the judge said. It said “a court cannot prohibit any person from reporting the proceedings of a case unless it is shown that the reporting is patently and malafidely false.

"“The tweets may not be happily worded from the point of view of the applicant or other accused, but how they interfere in the administration of justice or are prejudicial to the defence of the accused is not clear,” the court said, posting cross-examination of Swamy in the main case to January 11.

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"Earlier in his arguments, Swamy said that apart from the principles of freedom of speech, the tweets (more than 2000) produced by Congress lawyers must be certified. He said the lawyers demanded certification when he produced Income Tax documents and company records of Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited. Congress lawyers also accused Swamy of abusing them on Twitter by calling them “Congi lawyers”[98]. During their arguments, Congress lawyers said that Swamy often used to call Sonia Gandhi as TDK, which means the devil Tadaka of Ramayan. Interestingly the lawyers never raised Swamy’s tweets calling Rahul Gandhi as Buddhu.

"Reacting to the Court order, Swamy thanked his lawyers Ishkaran Bhandari, Dilip Kumar, Ramni Taneja and his advocate wife Roxna Swamy. He said that after the starting of his cross-examination from January 11, he would demand for a daily hearing in the National Herald case from February."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Dec 03 – ED attaches illegally allotted posh property to NH in Panchkula 

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"Trouble is brewing for the Gandhis in the National Herald case. Weeks after the acquisition notice of its headquarters Herald House in Delhi, by the Union Urban Development Ministry (UDM), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached its swanky office in Panchkula, illegally allotted by Haryana Government under the Congress regime. The central probe agency said that it issued a provisional order of attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on December 1, the day the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others for allegedly using fraudulent means to allot the land to Associate Journals Limited (AJL).

"“Since the value of plot fraudulently allotted to AJL has represented proceeds of crime, the ED has attached the plot under PMLA Act,” the agency said in a statement. The plot has been attached under Section 5 of the PMLA (attachment of property involved in money laundering) and further investigation is in process, it said.

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"Reacting to the development main petitioner and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy congratulated ED and said that he would pursue with Maharashtra Government on the illegal allotment of land in Bandra to National Herald publisher Associated Journals Limited. The State Government had already formed a committee to probe into the irregularities. Finding a series of frauds in the land allotment and usage, the Committee recommended the takeover by the state government and initiating action against the AJL.

"The ED said Hooda, as the then CM, “misused his official position by dishonestly and fraudulently allotting the said plot to AJL afresh in the guise of re-allotment at the rates prevalent in 1982 (Rs 91 per sqm) plus interest despite the fact that the cancellation of allotment of the plot had earlier attained finality and it could not legally be re-allotted.” It added that the re-allotment of the plot in 2005 “unjustly benefitted” AJL.

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"The agency said its probe found that Hooda “granted undue extensions thrice to AJL for construction of the said plot and after acquisition of the said plot projected it as untainted property and further acquired loans from the bank by way of mortgaging the same from tie to time.” The CBI chargesheet, filed in a Panchkula court on December 1, named Congress leader Motilal Vora besides Hooda in connection with the alleged irregularities in the re-allotment of the plot.

"Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court previous week reserved for orders in the petition filed by AJL against the eviction notice issued by the Union Urban Development Ministry. In the main case, the trial court has scheduled the case to January 11 and cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by accused Congress leaders will start on that day."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Dec 21 – Delhi HC orders AJL to vacate Herald House within two weeks. Observes violations in Sonia & Rahul firms takeover 

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"In a huge setback to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the eviction of Herald House, the headquarters of National Herald newspaper within two weeks, dismissing the petition filed by the publisher Associated Journals Limited(AJL).  Finding no irregularity in the Urban Development Ministry’s Land and Development Office (L & DO) notice, the judgment said that there was total violation in the lease agreement by the publisher who was holding the building for the past 56 years and also said that the AJL’s takeover by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi floated new firm Young Indian was also “questionable” “modus operandi.”

"“The ‘subject premises’ was leased out to legendary AJL for its publication, but the dominant purpose is now practically lost. This Court is constrained to observe that major portion of the ‘subject premises’ has been rented out and petitioners’ newspaper, which was to be housed originally in the basement and ground floor, has now been shifted on the top floor with hardly any ‘press activity,” said the 17-page judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur.

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"“This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi to acquire 99% of AJL’s share speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable,” said the judgment. At present AJL, which is literally owned by Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian is earning around Rs.80 lakhs per month from 2011 by renting out two floors to Passport Seva Kendra.

"Observing that there was no wrong in eviction notice, the judgment also said that petitioner’s contention that the Government move was to erase, efface and defame the legacy of Pandit Nehru was not at all acceptable. “One fails to understand as to how the ruling dispensation has in any way erased, effaced, or defamed Pt. Nehru… the allegations of malafide leveled by petitioners are bald and unspecific and so, no note of these allegations taken,” said the judgment."

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"The AJL approached the High Court after the L & DO issued eviction notice on October 30, based on the complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy, BJP leader and petitioner in the main case. AJ was represented by Congress leader and noted lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and Government was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The court had reserved its decision on AJL's plea on November 22.

"The High Court said AJL will have to vacate the premises at ITO here within two weeks after which proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 would be initiated.

"The L&DO had ended the lease -- entered into with AJL on August 2, 1962 and made perpetual on January 10, 1967 -- asking the company to hand over the possession by November 15. The L&DO's order had also said that failure to hand over possession would lead to initiation of proceedings under the Public Premises Act.

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"In its plea, AJL has also said that the digital versions of English newspaper National Herald, Hindi's Navjivan and Urdu's Qaumi Awaz have commenced since 2016-17. The weekly newspaper 'National Herald on Sunday' resumed on September 24 last year and the place of publication was the ITO premises, AJL had said, adding that the Hindi weekly newspaper Sunday Navjivan was also being published since October this year from the same premises.

"Later in the evening, welcoming the judgment, the Urban Development Ministry said that, “It was found by the inspecting team of the Ministry on April 09, 2018 that no printing press was functioning at any floor of the premises and no paper stock was found anywhere.”

"“In earlier inspections also, the basement where Press machine should have been, was found vacant.  Further, it was also found that almost all shares of AJL were transferred to ‘Young Indian Ltd’ having same address as that of AJL without any permission of the Ministry.  As per a report of the Income Tax Department, in Young Indian Ltd., the majority of shares (76%) are held by the Gandhi family and the rest by Shri Motilal Vora and Shri Oscar Fernandes. It was also observed that instead of using the land given to AJL for Press purpose, they are earning a huge sum of money by renting out almost entire building except one floor which has negated the purpose for which the land was originally allotted,” said the Ministry in a statement."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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2019 

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Jan 05 – A covert operation in CBDT to save Sonia and Rahul from Income Tax case in NH collapses 

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"Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s timely intervention on a prompt alert by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy collapsed the Congress leadership’s attempts to issue a dubious Circular by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to save them from the tax default case in National Herald. Shockingly, on December 31, 2018, CBDT issued a dubious Circular diluting the tax burden on the fresh issue of shares.

"This was a cunning attempt engineered by the former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who is now the lead lawyer of Sonia Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi and with National Herald facing more than Rs.400 crores tax evasion case in the National Herald case. Congress leaders lost the case against Income Tax in all forums and now their last appeal is pending in the Supreme Court, where the case is scheduled on January 8. This dubious circular by CBDT was issued by a clever act by Congress leaders led by Chidambaram to save their High Command. The CBDT was forced to issue this order by Finance Ministry headed by Arun Jaitley. The idea was to show this circular to the Supreme Court in the next hearing to save Sonia and Rahul from tax default. The content of the circular is the same as what Chidambaram and a battery of Congress lawyers were arguing in the Supreme Court.

"But this collapsed after many honest Income Tax officials alerted BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who is the main petitioner in the National Herald case. Swamy alerted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS leadership about this fraud orchestrated in the Finance Ministry under Jaitley to save Sonia and Rahul from tax evasion case. According to highly placed officials, Modi ordered the cancelation of this dubious CBDT Circular on January 3 and the Order was withdrawn by CBDT on January 4 in the evening[99].

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"Many senior Income Tax officers say this dubious move originated from the Finance Ministry in the garb of giving some relief to the new investors from Angel Tax. Chidambaram-friendly officers were behind this move, they say.

"Hearing Modi’s direction on withdrawal of the dubious CBDT Order next came the Congress’ DRAMA! After the withdrawal of the Order, on January 4 evening, Congress conducted a Press Conference at AICC Head Quarters by Vivek Tankha MP and Ahmed Patel congratulating CBDT for issuing a new order on December 31, which was canceled few hours ago. Congress leaders said they are welcoming the CBDT Order! And declared that this circular vindicates their stand in the National Herald case! Congress was planning to quietly submit the CBDT Circular of December 31 in the Supreme Court on January 8 to get relief for Sonia and Rahul[100]. But the plan collapsed due to Prime Minister’s intervention and the Circular was canceled on January 4. So, a drama was created by calling a press conference thanking CBDT on January 4, for December 31 Circular, which was canceled hours before the Press Conference!

"And next day Congress leaders started crying that the Order was withdrawn by “vendetta” filled Modi. Blaming Jaitley headed Finance Ministry, the BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said that the Government should probe who all played the dirty games in issuing this dubious circular to save Sonia and Rahul from the tax evasion in National Herald case.

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"This is not the first time the Finance Ministry under Arun Jaitley has done double-dealings in the National Herald case. In mid-2014, weeks after the trial court summoned the Congress leaders, the Enforcement Directorate issued a dubious circular to its officers asking them not to register any money laundering cases based on the summons issued by courts. The illegal order also said that the officers should wait for the Supreme Court’s decisions and not to initiate actions. The circular was withdrawn after Subramanian Swamy filed complaints to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS leaders, blaming Arun Jaitley for covert operations.

"One must remember Arun Jaitley’s controversial interview with Barkha Dutt in 2015. In his interview, Jaitley said if National Herald’s publisher Associated Journal Limited (AJL) pays back Rs.90 crores to Congress party, the case will end! Now Income Tax found that the so-called loan of Rs.90 crores was just a hoax and this fake loan claim was nothing but a clever ploy by Sonia and Rahul to covertly take over the Rs.5000 crores worth land assets across in India by AJL."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Jan 14 – Swamy urges PM to order a probe on who is behind the dubious CBDT Circular to save Sonia & Rahul from NH case 

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"Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a probe on the issuing of a dubious Circular by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on December 31, 2018 to save Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from the Income Tax implications in the National Herald case. In a letter, appreciating Modi for the prompt action of the withdrawal of the circular on January 4, Swamy said there should be a probe to find out who asked the Under Secretary in Ministry of Finance to issue this dubious circular to save the Gandhis from tax probes.

"“You have given importance to this National Herald case by announcing in the public several times that Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and four others are presently out on bail and therefore lacked morality to speak about corruption. This is a well-taken point, and I congratulate you for bringing the matter before the general public,” said Swamy pointing out that the dubious CBDT circular was issued to demolish his case as well as the Income Tax’s case.

"He said that this Circular was issued by “traitors” with the help of pliable officials to save Gandhis from the crime of forming Young Indian and take over the 99.9% shares of the National Herald publishing firm Associated Journals Limited in an illegal way.

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"“This is an extraordinary, unprecedented event, that a Circular (dealing with such an extraordinarily important matter impinging on the fight against corruption) should be issued to casually and withdrawn within a matter of 24 hours. It means that the original Circular dated December 31, 2018, and made public on January 3, 2019, was either an act of gross stupidity and incompetence (which is not likely), or probably that it was a command performance by the Finance Ministry Under-Secretary who signed the Circular. The mere fact that in 24 hours, the Circular was withdrawn shows the great concern felt by the Government about the damage likely to be caused by this and hence the Government wasted no time to withdraw the Circular. But it is important to know the Circulars are prepared through a process in which many participate,” said Swamy, seeking an Inquiry Committee under Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in PMO.

"“Obviously the first Circular was to help Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other four accused to escape from the National Herald case. What was the quid pro quo for this action of the Ministry of Finance officer? The signing officer should be interrogated on who advised him/ her to sign this Circular,” demanded Swamy, main petitioner in the National Herald case."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Feb 05 – Cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer begins on a low key 

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"The much-awaited cross-examination of petitioner BJP leader Subramanian Swamy by accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s advocates turned out to be a damp squib on Monday.  Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were represented by veteran lawyer R S Cheema who spent close to two hours on the first day of crossing on February 4, concentrated on a trivial issue whether Swamy said the closure of National Herald newspaper was a permanent one or not. He also kept asking Swamy on whether the closure in 2008 was meant to acquire the properties of the publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL) by Sonia and Rahul.

"Many expected the cross-examination of Swamy to be a fiery exchange of questions and answers, but it turned out to be a low-key affair as veteran lawyer Cheema kept to low profile questions. Being an expert in law, Swamy also kept his cool by giving matter-of-fact replies without elaborating or provoking the accused Congress leader’s lawyer. The case was posted to next date for continuation of crossing on February 23. All the seven accused persons’ lawyers will cross Swamy, who sought for day-to-day hearings from February 23 onwards, which is the Congress leaders may not want.

"While the lawyer reiterated on how Swamy affirmed that National Herald newspaper was shut down permanently, Swamy replied that he relied on ‘The Pioneer’ newspaper’s report by J Gopikrishnan, who relied on Rahul Gandhi’s email to him that there was no intention to re-launch the National Herald newspaper.

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"Congress lawyers were vehemently objecting to the submission of Rahul Gandhi’s email to journalist J Gopikrishnan while Swamy’s was reiterating this as proof during his evidence providing.

"The fact is that till date, National Herald is not yet re-launched as a daily newspaper. Only after the High Court and Supreme Court directed Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to appear before the trial court did the Congress leaders launch an online edition in late 2016. In late 2017, they occasionally published a weekly paper.

"During his cross, Swamy also brought out the Urban Development Ministry’s finding that there is no media activity and printing, leading to the eviction of AJL and Young Indian from the Herald House. Sensing danger, the Congress lawyer did not ask any further questions. The Congress lawyers did not ponder much on the Income Tax findings, though Swamy tried to bring the matter during his replies.

"Legal experts say Congress leaders wanted to stretch the crossing of Swamy and are expected to object to Swamy’s demand for daily crossing. The entire transcripts of crossing of Subramanian Swamy are available at Bar & Bench website[101]."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Feb 28 – Delhi HC slams Sonia & Rahul of a clandestine operation to float YIL. Orders immediate eviction of Herald House 

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"In a big slap to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Delhi High Court on Thursday observed that their company Young Indian acquired National Herald newspaper’s publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and its huge assets in a clandestine operation. Ratifying the Single Bench’s order, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao ordered the immediate eviction of Herald House, the headquarters of AJL.

"The 63-page judgment detailed the various illegalities, ratifying the December 2018 judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur ordering the eviction of Herald House by the Urban Development Ministry (UDM). The Division Bench took note of the fact that AJL has been taken over by Young Indian Company for all practical purposes. It said: “This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi was to acquire 99% of AJL's shares speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable.”

"The scathing observation by the Division Bench totally vindicates the first criminal case filed BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. AJL was represented by Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and the UDM by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. In the judgment, the Court observed that on many occasions, AJL did not answered properly and tried to hide the facts. Upholding the single bench view that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young Indian was nothing but a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of the lucrative interest in the premises to Young India, the bench observed

"“The judgment observed that with just Rs.50 lakhs, Sonia and Rahul controlled the Young Indian became the owners of more than Rs.400 crores worth owners of Herald House.”

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"“Even though Dr. Singhvi had argued that there is nothing wrong in such a transaction and it is legally permissible, but if we take note of the principles and the doctrine for which the theory of lifting of the corporate veil has received legal recognition, we have no hesitation in holding that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young Indian was nothing but, as held by the learned writ Court, a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of the lucrative interest in the premises to Young India. In fact, the contention of Dr. Singhvi has to be rejected and rightly so was rejected by the Single Judge even though without applying the principle of lifting of the corporate veil. In case the theory of lifting of the corporate veil, as discussed hereinabove, is applied and the transaction viewed by analyzing as to what was the purpose for such a transaction, the so called innocent or legal and permissible transaction as canvassed before us, in our considered view, is not so simple or straight forward as put before us, but it only indicates the dishonest and fraudulent design behind such a transaction as laid down in various judgments.”

"Now as a last resort, Congress lawyers will rush to Supreme Court against the Delhi HC’s Division Bench judgment. Already, the final appeal against the Income Tax Order exposing the Rs.413 crores asset-grabbing by Sonia and Rahul is before the Supreme Court. In the main case, the cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by Congress lawyers are to resume on March 30."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Mar 12 – Exposed in the Herald House frauds, Congress leaders-led AJL appeals to SC, accuses-BJP of pathological animus to Nehru Swamy vindicated 

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"Having lost in the lower courts, the defunct National Herald newspaper publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL) approached the Supreme Court against the eviction from its headquarters Herald House, accusing the ruling party BJP of having a “pathological animus” towards the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. AJL, which is owned by the top Congress leadership was slammed by the Delhi High Court on February 28 and ordered to leave the Herald House. AJL is now facing the Urban Development Ministry’s final notice on March 1 of eviction from the premises for serious frauds and violations committed in the garb of advantages given to media firms.

"“This court may be pleased to take judicial notice that the principal political party of the incumbent ruling coalition dispensation at the Centre viz the BJP (in its present form since 1980 and in its earlier avatar - the Bharatiya Jana Sangh since 1951) harbours a pathological animus to the ideas of Indian's first Prime Minister - Pandit Nehru, whom they incessantly and viciously accuse of creation of a secular democratic republic where people of all faiths have equal protection and equal access under the Constitution,” the plea filed by AJL in the apex court said."

The last bit, from "Nehru ... " onwards to " ... Constitution", makes no sense. One does not "viciously accuse" someone of "equal protection and equal access" - unless we are referring to victims and criminals of horrendous crimes. 

The fact is, those who filed that plea did not wish to actually quote the accusations by BJP et al, so they substituted their own laudatory lies, instead. 

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"Terming the eviction proceedings before the single-judge bench and double-judge bench in High Court as biased and malafide, the AJL in its appeal said that its publication espouses the ideology of the Congress party, which is presently the largest opposition party in the country.

"“The eviction proceedings have been initiated for the purposes of scuttling the voice of democratic dissent of the Congress Party. It is a clear affront to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and a deliberate attempt to suppress and destroy the legacy of the first Prime Minister of the country i. e. Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the guiding light for the publications of the petitioner-company,” it said.

"The Division Bench of High Court, comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao outlined all frauds committed by the Sonia Gandhi-and-Rahul Gandhi-controlled firm Young Indian for dubiously acquiring AJL and controlling its huge land assets across the country worth more than Rs.5000 crores. The 63-page judgment detailed the various illegalities, ratifying the December 2018 judgment of Justice Sunil Gaur ordering the eviction of Herald House by the Urban Development Ministry. The Division Bench took note of the fact that AJL has been taken over by Young Indian Company for all practical purposes. It said: “This Court is conscious of the fact that Young Indian Company is a charitable company, but modus operandi was to acquire 99% of AJL’s shares speaks volumes. The manner in which it has been done is also questionable.”"

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"Swamy vindicated 

"The scathing observation by the Division Bench totally vindicates the first criminal case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. AJL was represented by Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and the Urban Development Ministry by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. In the judgment, the Court observed that on many occasions, AJL did not answer properly and tried to hide the facts. Upholding the single bench view that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young Indian was nothing but a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of the lucrative interest in the premises to Young India, the bench observed that with just Rs.50 lakhs, Sonia and Rahul controlled the Young Indian became the owners of more than Rs.400 crores worth owners of Herald House[102].

"This is the last chance for AJL to object to the eviction from Herald House. Already, the final appeal against the Income Tax Order exposing the Rs.413 crores fine for asset-grabbing by Sonia and Rahul is before the Supreme Court. In the main case, the cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by Congress lawyers is set to resume on March 30."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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May 29 – ED attaches Rs.64 crores-worth Panchkula office of NH for money laundering 

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"In a major crackdown in the National Herald (NH) case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken possession of the Rs.64 crores-worth building and property in Panchkula, allotted to the newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The Adjudicating Authority under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Wednesday confirmed ED’s move to attach Panchkula property in December 2018. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED have registered charge sheets against then Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and officials for illegally allotting the land in 2005.

"Congress leader Motilal Vora is the Managing Director of the Public Limited Company AJL. Other Directors are Congress leaders Oscar Fernadez and Sonia Gandhi family’s associates Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey. In 2011, this 80-year-old public limited company was covertly taken over by a private company named Young Indian, owned by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Both have 38 percent shares each in this newly floated firm with no assets. Through a dubious way, Young Indian took over 99.9% shares of the AJL, which has more than Rs.2000 crores worth land assets across India, spanning from Delhi, Panchkula, Lucknow, Mumbai etc.  The bizarre fraud was exposed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in November 2012. Currently, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders are out on bail in the criminal case filed by Subramanian Swamy.

"In mid-2014, Swamy filed cases to Income Tax, ED, CBI and state governments of Haryana, Maharashtra to probe into the land allotment frauds, tax frauds in the National Herald case. Income Tax has imposed a heavy fine of Rs.414 crores on Young Indian, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and currently the case is pending before Supreme Court after the appeal is filed by the accused[103].

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".”..Since the value of plot (in Panchkula) fraudulently allotted to AJL has represented proceeds of crime, the ED has attached plot under the PMLA act,” the ED had said in a statement. Now, the ED said Wednesday, that the Adjudicating Authority of PMLA “has held that defendants have committed the schedule offence, generated proceeds of crime and further found that the properties attached are proceeds of crime beyond any doubt and thereby ordered for confirmation of the provisional attachments order.”

"With this approval, the ED is empowered to take possession of the land and erect its authority signage over the plot that disallows any trespass or activity by anybody over the asset. However, the plot can be finally transferred to the government exchequer once the trial in the case concludes in favour of the agency, officials said.

"National Heralds’ headquarters in Delhi – Herald House – is already facing eviction and takeover notice from the Ministry of Urban Development. The case is currently pending in Supreme Court on the appeal filed by the accused. Maharashtra Government has formed a committee headed by officials to look into the illegality of land allotment in Bandra. This prime land was illegally given to some real estate lobby and the Committee found lot of violations in 2016[104]. However, the Maharashtra Government has not taken further action on this blatant violation and illegalities in Bandra land allotments."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Nov 13 – Dr. Swamy, the unstoppable force 

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"It is a known fact that Dr. Swamy was not supported by the present Government in his fight against Corruption and the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

"Even in court proceedings, Dr. Swamy had no backing. In fact, bottlenecks were created within by a few elements to protect and safeguard the past regime's corrupt officials. Many a time, the Government appointed lawyer would fail to show up!

"The 2G case and its judgment during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) period in the public domain; the Govt officers failed to perform their duties of presenting a watertight case. A few of the Govt. officers had connections with 2G scam accused and a deep-rooted conspiracy to weaken the prosecution prevailed.

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"Dr. Swamy singlehandedly fought UPA's corruption charges in the 2G case prior to 2014 and got a favourable judgment from the Supreme Court in which the spectrum licenses got canceled. The same trend did not reflect in the 2G case judgment during the NDA period. The case collapsed in the Special Court with all accused being acquitted and an adverse comment by the Honourable Judge on the prosecution's role in presenting evidence during the trial. Now the matter is on appeal in the High Court and it is hoped that justice will be delivered this time.

"Ex FM P Chidambaram's investigation on multiple corruption cases was internally sabotaged during the 2014 - 2019 period. Crucial information from Govt agencies was leaked to the accused to counter moves. In this matter, Dr. Swamy was determined to take on the Ex-FM P Chidambaram all alone and submitted new crucial evidence of Karti Chidambaram's Foreign bank accounts, Foreign Properties, Foreign investments, details of corruption, etc. Only after the general election of 2019, has the case moved positively and now an indisputable case is framed against the accused.

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"When you review the National Herald case which Dr. Swamy filed prior to 2014, he didn't have any backing from BJP led NDA after it came to power. It was like a One-Man Army taking on the mighty Gandhi Family and their squad which was the ruling party then. The case is based on documentary evidence which presented their wrongdoings, and the outcome is likely by the first half of the next year.

"Even in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, Dr. Swamy faced difficulties due to opposition from within the Govt. They systematically opposed Dr. Swamy's role for its early hearing in the case. They wanted him out and ignored his valid plea on faith & fundamental right to pray. Misguided Govt affidavit was submitted during the proceedings. In fact, Govt had no role in the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

"Eventually, Dr. Swamy's hard work paid off with the Supreme Court listing hearing and the final judgment, in favor of the Hindus.

"Dr. Swamy's role in the fight against Corruption and the Ram Janmabhoomi case should be appreciated and lauded. He is a true Corruption Crusader and Hindu Hriday Samrat."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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Nov 16 – Income Tax Tribunal exposes the frauds and dubious activities of Sonia & Rahul in acquiring properties of NH 

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"The doors are closing step-by-step for Congress President Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. The Appellate Tribunal’s Order dated November 15, ratifying the Income Tax Order of canceling Charitable activities exemption certificate reiterates the fact that mother and son controlled firm Young Indian committed a series of blatant frauds in grabbing the assets of the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journal Limited (AJL).

"After canceling the tax exemption certificate Income Tax has fined Young Indian Rs.249 crores, finding that the shell firm has a taxable income of Rs.414 crores1. The Income Tax Department also ordered a re-assessment of the incomes of Sonia and Rahul and they lost the case in Delhi High Court2. Now the case is pending in the Supreme Court and is listed for November 29.

"The Appellate Tribunal’s 175-page Order (the link is given in Appendix 6) reiterates the frauds committed to dubiously acquiring thousands of crores worth assets of the National Herald publishing company in Delhi, Panchkula, Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow, and other metro cities. The Tribunal’s Order also lays bare the lies floated by the Congress leaders. In many areas of the Order, the Tribunal headed by Amit Shukla and Prashant Maharishi lists in detail the frauds and lies of the Congress leaders."

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"Scam exposed by Swamy 

"When the National Herald scam was exposed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the Congress leaders claimed that they took Rs.90 crores loan from Congress party to save party’s debt-ridden newspaper. The Tax authorities probe exposes that there was no such loan and that this fake loan claim was a cock & bull story to dubiously take over thousands of crores worth assets of National herald, spread across many cities.

"The Tribunal Order also reveals the fact that in the garb of journalism, the National Herald’s covert operation after the takeover by Sonia and Rahul was just to acquire the huge land assets. The Order also shows that a one-crore-loan later claimed as a donation from a Kolkata based shell firm Dotex was nothing but money laundering.  In a nutshell, the Tribunal Order says that using the fake loan or donation of Rs.50 lakhs, Sonia and Rahul controlled firm Young Indian covertly acquired thousands of crores-worth assets of National Herald publishing firm AJL."

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"NH Digital operation a sham 

"The Order also says that the digital operation of the National Herald was nothing but a sham to avoid cases and just to show that they are engaged in media newspaper activity. Government has already issued orders to vacate the Herald House and Delhi High Court has already ratified it. Now the Congress leaders appeal is pending before Supreme Court and expected to be listed on November 25.

"In the main criminal case filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy that is now in the cross-examination stage, the Congress leaders are, for the past one year, engaged in crossing the petitioner. The next date for crossing is scheduled on November 29 and 30 and Swamy has already urged day-to-day hearing in the case and the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, heading the special fast track court of MPs and MLAs said that he would consider starting day-to-day hearing from January 2020."

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January 24, 2023 - January 24, 2023. 

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2020 

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Apr 07 – Sonia must surrender more than Rs.5000 crores-worth assets of NH grabbed by her 

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"Congress President Sonia Gandhi has come out with an obnoxious demand of a complete ban of Central Government’s advertisements in all media including Print, Television, and Online platforms for two years in the wake of the Corona crisis. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she urged this as the first demand saying that by this ban on advertisements Central Government can save Rs.1250 crores per year. That works out to Rs.2500 crores in two years.

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"While making this atrocious demand, we must remember that Sonia Gandhi has captured the Congress party’s newspaper – ‘National Herald’ and is holding more than Rs.5000 crores-worth land and building assets across the country including in plush locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Panchkula, and Indore. National Herald newspaper was started in 1938 by Congress leaders under a public limited company – Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) - and after India’s independence, many Governments allotted huge benefits including lands across the country. Sonia Gandhi was interested only in the newspaper’s huge land assets and closed down the newspaper publishing in 2008. By the end of 2010, she dubiously formed a private company (76% of shares owned by Sonia and son Rahul) named as Young Indian and grabbed 99.3% shares of AJL.

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"Now she is facing criminal charges in the National Herald grabbing case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Income Tax charges for tax evasion as well. The Government has also ordered the eviction of its headquarters (Herald House) in Delhi worth around Rs.1000 crores. The Income Tax case and eviction case is now pending before the Supreme Court after Sonia Gandhi lost the cases in all lower courts. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have also filed cases against Congress leaders in the Panchkula land grabbing case.

"If Sonia Gandhi is so concerned about India’s financial position, she must surrender all the lands worth more than Rs.5000 crores belonging to the erstwhile newspaper National Herald company to the Government of India."

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"NBA deplores Congress letter 

"The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Tuesday “strongly deplored” Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s suggestion of complete ban of Central Government advertisement in all sorts of media including print, television and online for two years to tackle the financial crisis due to Corona crisis. In a statement, the NBA President Rajat Sharma said that Sonia’s statement was demoralising and asked for the withdrawal of the statement.

"“At a time when media personnel without fearing for their lives are doing their national duty by disseminating news on the pandemic, a statement like this from the Congress is highly demoralising. NBA calls upon Congress President Sonia Gandhi to withdraw her suggestions made to Prime Minister on a complete ban on media advertisements for two years in the interest of a healthy and free media,” said Sharma."

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"Practice what you preach 

"Why is Sonia Gandhi not asking the Congress-ruled states to stop their advertisement in media? Her cunning idea is to limit the publication of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo published in the Central Government advertisements. Some media-friendly Congress leaders accuse former Minister Jairam Ramesh of giving this “brilliant(!) idea” of scrapping Central Government advertisements. It is an open secret that penning erudite prose is beyond the capabilities of the Sonia/ RaGa/ PriVa trio. So, it must have been written by someone and just signed by Sonia.

"Her other four demands were the suspension of construction of the Rs.20,000 crores-worth Central Vista Project, ban on Modi and other Minister’s foreign visits, 30% cut in Government expenses and transfer PM-CARES funds to PMNRF. These demands expose her hatred towards Modi. Why she wants Modi to not travel abroad is a mystery. These things expose the pettiness of and the cunning nature of Sonia Gandhi.

"Let me reiterate - Sonia must surrender the more than Rs.5000 crores-worth assets of erstwhile National Herald newspaper grabbed by her instead of calling for a complete ban on Central Government’s advertisements in media for two years. If Sonia is so concerned about India, she should pay back the Rs.414 crores illegal gain (findings of Income Tax in 2018) from grabbing the assets of the National Herald newspaper[105]. The Italian born Sonia, the land where the word fascism originated has shown her true colors."

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January 24, 2023 - January 25, 2023. 

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May 09 – ED attaches 11-floor building in Bandra East, Mumbai for money laundering 

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"In a big slap to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday attached the defunct National Herald newspaper company Associated Journal Limited (AJL)’s 11-floor building in Bandra East in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). AJL’s 99.3 percent shares are controlled by the dubious firm Young Indian, where Sonia and Rahul own 76 percent of the shares. Congress leadership bagged this prime property in 1983 in Bandra East for office and printing of National Herald’s Mumbai edition. By mid-2000, Congress leaders engaged in deals with real estate firms and managed to get an approval to build 9 floors and two basement floors.

"Though the book value of the property is recorded at around Rs.17 crores, the market value is expected to be above Rs.500 crores. After filing a case against Sonia & Rahul in the trial court, petitioner and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy filed complaints to many agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the ED, the Urban Development Ministry, Income Tax and many State Governments against the massive properties of National Herald publishing company AJL, which is covertly grabbed by Sonia and Rahul controlled Young Indian.

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"The Haryana Government has transferred the probe to the CBI on Panchkula property saying that this is a massive fraud involving many states. The CBI has registered a case against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and the AJL Managing Director and the then Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora and ED attached the plush property in Panchkula. Bandra property attachment is the second attachment in the National Herald case. Maharashtra Government’s probe had proved many illegalities in the Bandra East land and involvement of Congress leaders in covertly handing over the newspaper company’s property to real estate sharks[106].

"The ED found that Panchkula property was valued at Rs.120 crores and AJL took a loan from Syndicate Bank’s Delhi ITO Branch to build 11 floors in Bandra East property by top Congress leadership, who are the loyalists of Sonia Gandhi family. Income Tax has already charged Sonia and Rahul of tax evasion of more Rs. 414 crores and the case are presently pending in the Supreme Court. The National Herald’s headquarters in Delhi – Herald House – is already facing eviction from Urban Development Ministry and the case is currently pending on appeal by Congress leadership in Supreme Court.

"The main case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in the trial court against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, and other Congress leaders is in the cross-examination phase."

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January 25, 2023 - January 25, 2023. 

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Jun 26 – Government must take back the land and building illegally used by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation: Subramanian Swamy 

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"BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to direct the Urban Development Ministry to take back the land allotted to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation at the heart of New Delhi. In his letter to the Prime Minister, Swamy pointed out that in 2015 he filed a petition to the Ministry citing the illegalities of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation using the prime property which was actually allotted to Congress party in 1988.

"“Much information has come in the public domain about the fraud of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. I had written a letter to the Ministry of Urban Ministry several years ago, pointing out that RGF building was built on the plot on the Raisina Road that was granted by the Ministry of Urban Development for building the Congress party office. But instead, the building has been usurped by RGF. I strongly recommend Government taking back the plot and nationalisng the building,” said Swamy in his letter to Modi."

Author gives the relevant tweet by Dr Subramanian Swamy here, in a photographic format. 

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"How did Sonia Gandhi grab the plot allotted for Congress party headquarters? 

"In 1988, a year prior to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s centenary year (1989), Government (then ruled by Rajiv Gandhi) allotted a prime plot to the Congress party to build a big headquarters named Jawahar Bhawan. Across India, Congress workers collected more than Rs.500 crores for the construction of their headquarters. Many Corporates also donated money and it was known to all that the building was actually constructed by the late Dhirubhai Ambani. There were two sources of income– Congress workers collected money across the country and the Corporates pitched in too. Meanwhile, after the 30th day of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, June 21, 1991, Sonia Gandhi started the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and slowly usurped the building meant for Congress party’s headquarters. This is a clear violation. The land was allotted for Congress party’s headquarters and now using as Sonia family’s private foundation.

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"The irony is that the Congress headquarters is still working at the old building at 24, Akbar Road, neighboring Sonia Gandhis’ home at 10, Janpath Road. In 2009, Congress party and all political parties were given land at Deen Dayal Upadhayay Marg area. The Congress party is yet to construct its headquarters, while even cashless Communist parties made their offices in the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg area.

"After filing a complaint against the illegal use of Herald House in the National Herald case, Subramanian Swamy in 2015 filed a petition to Urban Development Ministry for taking back the land illegally used by Sonia Gandhi family-controlled Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Swamy also demanded a probe of RGF operating in tax haven Seychelles too."

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January 25, 2023 - January 25, 2023. 

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Dec 05 –Swamy demands summoning of Income Tax documents and crucial witnesses. Sonia-Rahul lawyers cite COVID, seeking more time to cross Swamy 

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"Trying to speed up the procedures in the National Herald case trial, petitioner BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday approached trial court for summoning crucial Income Tax orders, Income Tax officials, Land Development Department’s order for evicting Herald House and its officials, and other witnesses. Swamy also demanded summoning of former Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi who issued a statement on behalf of Congress saying on November 2, 2012, about Congress giving Rs.90 crores loan to National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited and ‘The Pioneer’ newspaper journalist J Gopikrishnan who reported his email communications with Rahul Gandhi on the relaunch of National Herald newspaper.

"On December 5 (Saturday) the case was scheduled for resuming cross-examination of Subramanian Swamy by the accused. But the advocates of the accused Congress leaders were not ready, citing their inability to present in Court due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last cross-examination was in March 2020 and for the past more than two years the main accused Sonia Gandhi’s lawyers have been examining Swamy. The BJP leader has already demanded the Court for day-to-day hearing in the case and the next hearing is scheduled on December 23.

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"In his application for summoning documents and witnesses, Swamy also sought summoning of Secretary-General (Registry Officer) Supreme Court Sanjeev S Kalgaonar, Deputy Land and Development Officer Rajnish Kumar Jha, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (Circle-1) Saket Singh. For the past three years, after Swamy produced the photocopy of Income Tax orders exposing the huge tax violation of more than Rs.414 crores by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi-headed firms, the accused persons were challenging the authenticity photocopy of the Order. Swamy countered that these documents were relied on by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the High Court and Supreme Court in their petitions against the Supreme Court. PGurus already published the 105-page Order of Income Tax department on the Rs. 414 crore tax evasion by Gandhi family using National Herald newspaper.

"“This case is a quintessential case of documentary evidence. Due to the fact that there are many documents that have been annexed to the Chief Examination of the Complainant, which are public documents, which have been marked; these are certified copies of these public documents,” the application of Swamy said.

"“Due to the fact that these are marked documents, these documents need to be proved through the testimony of the appropriate witnesses. It is reiterated that as the complainant’s case is a quintessential case of the evidence being documentary evidence, therefore these documents need to be proved through their witnesses,” it said.

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"Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta on December 5 adjourned the matter for December 23 as the lawyers from the accused side did not appear physically and sought an adjournment. 

"Earlier, several times, the accused Congress leaders were objecting to the submission of documents and witnesses. Apart from Subramanian Swamy’s case in the trial court, Congress leaders are facing two cases in the Supreme Court. One is the Income Tax charges of Rs.414 crores-tax-evasion and the other is eviction from the Herald House, the headquarters of the defunct National Herald newspaper. Congress leaders lost these two cases in Delhi High Court in 2018 and their appeal is pending before the Supreme Court. The Enforcement Directorate has already attached two big plush buildings of the National Herald in Panchkula and Bandra in Mumbai."

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January 25, 2023 - January 25, 2023. 

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Dec 24 – Sonia, Rahul object to production of IT and Herald House eviction notices 

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"Income Tax and Urban Development Ministry documents expose the frauds in National Herald 

"Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday objected to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s demand for production of Income Tax notices and Urban Development Ministry’s notices in the National Herald case. Instead of producing the documents served to the accused persons which they already produced in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court, the Congress leaders in their objection affidavit said that Swamy is trying to delay the process and his demand petition was vague in nature.

"For more than two years from July 2018, Congress leaders are spending time cross-examining Swamy, and, in the affidavit, they said that the demand for other process and approval of the list of witnesses can be filed later after the current process. At present, the Income Tax notice of more than Rs.400 crores tax evasion and eviction of Herald House is pending before the Supreme Court. In both cases, Congress lost the case in Delhi High Court and now the appeals are pending in the apex court.

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"“The present application is liable to be dismissed being totally vague; tainted by inordinate delay and dilatory in nature,” the counsel appearing for the accused said. “The present application is also liable to be dismissed as the present application does not conform to the relevant provision,” the counsel told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta. In reply to the application, the accused said that while it was the legal right of Swamy to submit a list of witnesses sought to be summoned by him, the court was not conducting a “roving inquiry.”"

Obviously congi lawyers were telling the court how to react, what to say, and, in general, usurping the rights and privileges of court! 

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"“The complainant has not submitted any list of witnesses even though the recording of pre-charge evidence had commenced on July 21, 2018, when the complainant himself stepped into the witness box. Needless to say that the application has to satisfy the procedure prescribed by law,” said the Congress leaders objecting to Swamy’s demand for production of documents and witnesses."

Funny, did they mean that their own clients had no such requirements vis-a-vis law, and could ignore it at will, circumvent it, flout it? 

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"Reacting to Congress leaders’ objection, Swamy said that why they object on producing the Income Tax and other notices to them and asked to agree for the day-to-day hearing?"

Author gives another tweet from Dr Subramanian Swamy in photographic format. 

"Income Tax and Urban Development Ministry documents expose the frauds in National Herald and that is why Congress leadership is objecting the production of these documents in the trial court. PGurus have published the Income Tax documents exposing the huge tax evasion of more than Rs.400 crores by Sonia and Rahul controlled company Young Indian. The 105-page Income Tax findings are ratified by Delhi High Court already."

There, "objecting the production" should read "objecting to the production"

"The application moved by Swamy had sought summoning of Secretary-General Sanjeev S Kalgaonar (Registry officer) Supreme Court of India, Rajnish Kumar Jha (Dy Land & Development officer), Saket Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax Circle-1 and a Congress official who issued a press statement on November 2, 2012. Swamy also sought summoning of journalist J Gopikrishnan, also as a witness. Rahul Gandhi earlier wrote to the journalist that there is no re-launch of the newspaper.

"There are seven accused in the case - Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Motilal Vora, who recently passed away, and the company Young Indian."

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January 25, 2023 - January 25, 2023. 

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List of References and authors 

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Very extensive. 

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January 25, 2023 - January 25, 2023. 

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Appendix 

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Appendix 1 – Delhi HC judgment 

Appendix 2: National Herald vs BMC 

Appendix 3: CBI FIR in National Herald - Hooda 

Appendix 4: IT Assessment Order 

Appendix 5: NH order of Judge Samar Vishal Appendix 6: ITAT ruling on YI

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Very extensive. 

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January 25, 2023 - January 25, 2023. 

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National Herald frauds: Arrogant stealing of prime real estate - another instance of hubris of the Gandhi family 

by Sree Iyer (Author)  

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August 22, 2022 - 

January 15, 2023 - January 25, 2023. 

Purchased August 22, 2022. 

Format: Kindle Edition

Kindle Edition

ASIN:- B08TQLFQG8

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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4937033043

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