Sibal Finds Victory in SC Ruling on Herald Case, BJP Calls it a Slap on Congress' Face
NEW DELHI: Though the Supreme Court refused to interfere in the National Herald trial court case against the Gandhis and other Congress office-bearers, the party took solace from the fact that the apex court expunged certain observations made by the high court and exempted the party’s leaders from court appearances.
Continuing the verbal duel with Subramanian Swamy — the petitioner in the case — Congress leader and counsel in the case, Kapil Sibal reiterated the point he had made before the SC that Swamy had no locus standi in the case.
Sibal asserted that neither Congress party supporters nor anyone who donated to the party had raised objections or filed breach of trust and cheating cases against the Congress president and vice president or its office-bearers.
“The BJP gaining hope won’t latch on to wrong accusations on Congress leaders in future. They have a habit of behaving like satellites, which lose trajectory and fall to the ground,” said Sibal.
“The court, after hearing us, passed an order saying that the inferences and conclusions reached by the Hon High Court are uncalled for and therefore, stuck them down,” he added.
“The Supreme Court agreed with our contention that no one was cheated or defrauded. Naturally Congress leaders did not cheat petitioner Subramanian Swamy,” Sibal said, lauding the court’s move to exempt the Gandhis from personal appearances in the case.
He said they would “expose” BJP leader Swamy’s “anti-Gandhi” propaganda in the trial court, which will hear the matter on February 20.
Reacting to the order, the BJP called it a slap on the face of the Congress. BJP national secretary Srikant Sharma said, “Kapil Sibal is a habitual offender. He is misrepresenting the case. Instead of giving the BJP gyan, he needs to do introspection.” Sharma said that instead of levelling allegations against the BJP, Sibal should recall his “zero loss” statement in the 2G case and added that, Sibal should not forget that Sonia Gandhi was out on a bail of `50,000.