Swamy opposes Rahul Gandhi's plea for NoC on fresh passport; Court posts matter on May 26

Swamy said that if Gandhi is allowed to travel abroad, it may hamper the probe in the National Herald case

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday opposed before a Delhi court a plea by senior Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi for issuance of no objection certificate to his request for a fresh passport.

He said that if Gandhi is allowed to travel abroad, it may hamper the probe in the National Herald case.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Vaibhav Mehta fixed the matter for consideration on May 26 while allowing Swamy to file a response to Rahul's plea for grant of the new passport.

The court said that Swamy has the right to file a reply to Rahul's plea. It granted him time till Thursday for the purpose.

Rahul had on Tuesday approached the Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court for issuance of a new passport.

In his plea, he stated that when he was granted bail in the National Herald case in 2015, no travel restrictions were imposed on him.

But since he is no more a Member of Parliament following his conviction and sentence in a 2019 criminal defamation case by a Gujarat court, he had to surrender his diplomatic passport.

He sought issuance of a new passport, his plea said.

Rahul sought a normal passport as he is slated to travel to the US next month. He is scheduled to address the Indian diaspora at the Madison Square and interact with students at Stanford University.

After being held guilty, Gandhi was sentenced to two years by a Surat court on March 23 for his remarks as to 'why all thieves had Modi surname' in a rally in 2019 in Kolar. His sentence was suspended but his conviction was not stayed, leading to his disqualification as the MP from Wayanad.

Swamy filed a private complaint in the Delhi court in the National Herald case, in which Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi were granted bail on December 19, 2015.

In the complaint before the trial court, he accused Sonia, Rahul and others of conspiring to cheating and misappropriation of funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which Young Indian (YI) had obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) owed to the Congress party.

It was alleged that YI, which was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of Rs 50 lakh, had acquired almost all the shareholding of AJL, which was running the National Herald newspaper.