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 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.

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.

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 vas 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 crore 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 the trial is getting delayed, it has to be put in 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.

Here is the complete order, by the Addl Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi:

NH order by PGurus on Scribd