Subramanian Swamy on National Herald Case: Will prove my version on the basis of documents

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday, December 21, exuded confidence that he would be able to win the National Herald corruption case by producing supporting documents in the case. The case could not be heard as the concerned judge was on leave. A Delhi court on Saturday adjourned till February 1 the cross-examination of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in the National Herald case. Today, Swamy's cross-examination was to be done by Sonia Gandhi's counsel.

Speaking to the media Swamy said, "I am one of the complainants in the case. I will prove my version on the basis of the documents as there are no eyewitnesses in the case. I hope that in the month of April-May next, the court will able to decide whether to give punishment to the accused or not." 

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Cross-examination

Earlier in October, Subramanian Swamy was cross-examined in the National Herald case. This happened before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal. Senior Advocate RS Cheema representing Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi continued the cross-examination of Swamy which began on August 30. This case pertains to the Rs.90 crore loan advanced by Congress to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), owner of National Herald to Young Indian (YI) for a consideration of Rs.50 lakh. The RS MP filed a private complaint in this regard.  

In the cross-examination, Swamy admitted that he had himself never addressed any communication with reference to the revival or closure of National Herald. He revealed that he had relied on an email sent from the office of Rahul Gandhi to a journalist. Reiterating that AJL itself was not affected, he stated that only the shareholders of AJL were cheated. When Cheema put forth the argument that Swamy had not made such a distinction in his complaint, the latter claimed that it was a typographical error. He also agreed that Rahul and Sonia Gandhi had never been on the Board of Directors at any time.  

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About the case

Swamy is the complainant in the case. Several Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are accused. He had filed the case in 2012 accusing Sonia, Rahul, and others of allegedly conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds. The BJP lawmaker had also stated that the Congress party granted an interest-free loan of Rs. 90.25 crore to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), owner of the National Herald newspaper.

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(with ANI inputs)