NEW DELHI: The BJP on Saturday hit out at the Congress following the Delhi High Court verdict on the Herald House case, asking how a Rs 5,000-crore real asset could be converted into the personal property of the Gandhi family.
“The Delhi High Court has put a stamp of approval on the manner in which the public asset worth Rs 5,000 crore has been misused by taking the route of a trust to transfer the property on Rs 50 lakh as personal properties of one family.
The High Court has substantiated the charges that the likes of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others in the family have misused the provisions to usurp a public asset for personal gains,” said Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, while speaking to reporters at the BJP headquarters.
The minister wondered why the lease should continue when no newspaper was being published from Herald House and it was being used only for rental gains.
“There is a new business model of scams indulged in by the members of the Gandhi family. While the son-in-law of the Gandhi family becomes owner of lands worth hundreds of crores by paying just a few lakhs, Sonia-Rahul Gandhi have become owners of property worth thousands or crores by paying just a few lakh rupees,” charged Prasad.
The minister further alleged that the National Herald case had shown the contradictory statements of Congress leaders, besides their attempts to hide facts.
“First, the Gandhi family told the court following an income tax notice that publications seized in Herald House in 2008 after laying off all the employees. After the eviction notice, they say that the publishing has begun in the last few months. It’s evident that the Gandhi family wants to usurp the Herald House property by any means even while physical inspection showed that there is no publishing activity taking place in the property,” added Prasad.