New Delhi: A court here on Thursday issued summons to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi on charges of misappropriating funds of a company that used to publish the now-defunct National Herald newspaper.
In response to a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha said: “I have found prima facie evidence against all the accused.”
The court directed them to appear before it on August 7.
Apart from the Gandhis, the court also summoned Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, Sam Pitroda, who was an advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, and former journalist Suman Dubey, who is close to the Gandhi family.
The complaint alleged that the Gandhis formed a company, Young India, in 2010 with 38 per cent share each to take control of Rs.2,000 crore worth of assets of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), which published the National Herald.
The National Herald was started in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru. Over the decades, it lost circulation and ran into major financial losses, leading to its closure in 2008. (IANS)