R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, February 12 The Supreme Court on Friday refused to quash the criminal proceedings against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi in a trial court here in the National Herald assets misappropriation case. A Bench comprising Justices JS Khehar and C Nagappan, however, expunged all the adverse remarks of Delhi High Court against the Gandhi's while rejecting their plea for quashing the trial. In another relief to the Congress leaders, the Supreme Court exempted them from personal appearance in the trial court. As a result, the Gandhis need not turn up at the trial court here for the next hearing on February 20. Their appearance in the trial court would cause more inconvenience than convenience, the Bench said. Also, the Gandhis were eminent personalities and there was no chance of their running away from trial and as such there was no need for their personal appearance. The trial court was at liberty to direct their presence whenever the need arose, the Supreme Court said. The Gandhis and other accused were represented by senior counsel Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi Singhvi and RS Cheema. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the complainant in the case, strongly opposed grant of relief to the Gandhis.
The Supreme Court also clarified that the accused
were free to raise all objections at the time of framing of charges by
the trial court.
The Gandhis have approached the Supreme Court
following Delhi high court’s refusal to quash the case on December 7,
2015. Following the high court judgment, the two appeared in the trial
court on December 19 and obtained bail.
The trial court will take up the case again on
February 20, when the two will have to be present again unless they get
relief from the Supreme Court.
Their senior counsel Kapil Sibal today pleaded with
a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur for listing the
appeals early for hearing. Sibal made the request in the light of a plea
by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the complainant in the case, not to
take up the case till February 19 as he was not available for hearing
till then.
In their
appeals, the Congress leaders had sought quashing of the false criminal
case against them for allegedly misappropriating the assets of the
newspaper.
In her 74-page appeal, the Congress president had
explained as many as 65 grounds on which the case by Swamy would fall on
its face and as such could not be pursed in a trial court here.
The HC
ruling “completely militates against the well-settled principles of law
laid down by the Supreme Court governing the exercise of jurisdiction
under Section 482 of the CrPC” by the High Court for quashing criminal
cases pending in the trial court, the appeal had said.
