Congress to submit 2010-2011 balance sheet in National Herald case

A metropolitan magistrate on Friday asked for the 2010-2011 balance sheets of the Congress and Associated Journals Ltd in in a case about the alleged misappropriation of party funds for the acquisition of the National Herald newspaper.

"While balance sheets are filed before the Election Commission periodically and individuals submit their financial documents to courts, the manner in which Congress' financial documents have been summoned in this case is unconventional, to say the least," said a Congress party source.

The National Herald had been launched by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938, and ceased publication in 2008, according to the Hindustan Times.

The court asked for the documents after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a case against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and four other Congress leaders, accusing them of cheating when Young India Pvt Ltd purchased AJL. Sonia and Rahul each own 38 per cent stakes in YIPL.

The financial documents are to be submitted to the court on 21 March, when the court will next hear the case.

Swamy had applied for financial documents of the Congress from three years from 2010-2011 onward, but the court said it would only "partly allow" his application.

Swamy accuses the Gandhis, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda, of conspiracy to misappropriate funds in acquiring National Herald, by helping AJL obtain a loan of over Rs 90 crore from INC's funds, of which just Rs 50 lakh was paid back.