Gandhis forced to appear in court over corruption charges
Leaders of India's celebrated dynasty claim they are being targeted in a political prosecution
Rahul and Sonia Gandhi address the media at All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in New Delhi Photo: Altaf Qadri/AP
Andrew Marszal
By Andrew Marszal, New Delhi
7:58PM GMT 19 Dec 2015
The two leading members of India’s Gandhi dynasty were forced to appear in court accused of corruption on Saturday, in a case at the centre of a major row between the country’s main political parties.
Sonia and her son Rahul Gandhi, the leaders of the opposition Congress party, were granted bail within minutes by a New Delhi judge, after a leader of the ruling BJP had accused them of fraud.
They are accused of seeking to profit from the purchase of the now-defunct National Herald newspaper using party funds.
Both have denied the claims, calling the entire case a “political vendetta”.
Subramanian Swamy, the BJP leader who filed the complaint, vowed to secure a conviction, calling the affair an “open and shut case”.
"Ms Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will be sentenced to serve prison time," he said.
Congress leaders accused Mr Swarmy of being a “stooge” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Rahul and Sonia Gandhi arriving at Patiala House Court in New Delhi Photo: Rajat Gupta/EPA
"I have no doubt that the truth will come out. We are well aware of the campaign of attacks and criticism that our political rivals follow," said Mrs Gandhi after the hearing.
"They are targeting us and making full use of the state agencies.”
The National Herald was founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister and Rahul’s great-grandfather, and was long seen as a mouthpiece for the Congress party.
It was first published in 1938 and played an important role in the movement for India’s independence from Britain, but stopped publishing in 2008 amid financial difficulties.
In a bid to keep the newspaper’s parent group afloat, the Congress party gave a series of interest-free loans up to 2010.
But according to Mr Swarmy, Congress later that year transferred the debt it was owed to a company majority-owned by the two Gandhis.
That company, Young Indian Ltd, later took control of the newspaper group itself, as well as its real estate assets worth up £500m at a cut price, Mr Swarmy alleges.
The Gandhis insist Young Indian is a not-for-profit company, and that there was “no illegality” to the transaction.
But their handling of the case has been widely criticised.
They initially attempted to avoid appearing in person in court, instead sending their lawyers, but were ordered to attend by the Delhi High Court, which said the Congress leaders’ action “smacks of criminality”.
Congress party leaders have since brought India’s parliament to a halt with frequent protests over the case, preventing the passage of an important tax reform.
Bail was set at 50,000 rupees (£500) each. The next court date was set for February 20.
