National Herald: Setback for Sonia, Rahul Gandhi as Supreme Court allows assessment in tax case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Income Tax department to continue with the tax re-assessment for the year 2011-12 of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Oscar Fernandes in the National Herald case. The next date of hearing is on January 8, 2019.

The income tax assessment cases against the Congress leaders relates to an investigation into the complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in connection with the National Herald case. In the complaint, Swamy had accused Sonia and Rahul of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which Young India (YI) had obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) owed to the Congress party.

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In response to the application, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother said that the application filed by Swamy was not bonafide and filled with the sole object of "delaying the proceedings in a lifeless case".

Swamy had in July 2017 sought documents from the AJL including a copy of the bank statement filed with the registrar of companies (ROC), the minutes of the meeting in which decision to convert the loan into share capital was taken, the balance sheet, the profit and loss account with the auditor's report in the year in which the loan was granted.

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The documents sought from the Congress party included the minutes of the meeting of the Congress Working Committee authorising the loan waiver from the AJL to the YI and a copy of the loan agreement between the Congress and the AJL.