Delhi: When the Congress on Tuesday said that the court’s refusal to take cognizance of the ED chargesheet in the National Herald case exposed the Centre’s use of hysteria to enhance a hollow case, BJP retorted that the court’s decision was no exoneration
Sonia Gandhi and bail should not be viewed
as an acquittal.
Senior
lawyer and Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi, who led the litigation, said the matter was never substantiated but the government used the media to exaggerate baseless allegations. “It was a strange case where no money was transferred and no property changed hands, but it was called money laundering. Young India, which controls AJL, cannot give money, dividends or benefits to the executives sitting there. The court has not taken cognizance of the case, which is the first step. It shows that the case was baseless,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia was quick to point out that the dismissal was procedural and not substantive as no decision was taken in favor of the accused. “The primary criminal case arising out of the private complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy alleging fraud, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust (predicate offence) is still pending before the court,” he said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed vindication and said when the Modi government made the case, the party leadership said, “If we were not afraid of the British, BJP-RSS or Modi-Shah could not scare us.” He added, “Today the court also declared the actions of the Modi government illegal and foiled this conspiracy hatched with malicious intent of political revenge. We will continue our fight for 1.4 billion Indians and saving the Constitution.”“
