In a major relief to the Congress, its president Sonia Gandhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi and other five accused in the National Herald case were granted unconditional bail by a city court here on Saturday.
Turning down the complainant Subramanian Swamy’s arguments that the accused—Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, general secretary Oscar Fernandez, technocrat Sam Pitroda and journalist Suman Dubey—are highly influential people and can flee the country if their passports are not seized, the court said they are “reputed persons having deep political grassroots and there is no apprehension that they will flee”.
The Magistrate granted bail to the accused on furnishing personal bond of ₹50,000 each and one surety. He, however, made it clear that the accused will have to appear before the court in the future hearings. The next hearing of the case is on 20 February, 2016.
Talking to reporters after the court proceedings, Sonia Gandhi said they appeared before the court as any law abiding citizens do. “The laws of the country are equal for all. I am confident that the truth will come out,” she said and attacked the Centre for targeting leaders of the Opposition parties. “We are aware of the vicious campaigns and attacks of our political opponents. This has been going on for generations. But they could never change us from our paths. The Centre is targeting their political opponents. They are using government agencies for this purpose. But we cannot be scared. Our fight will go on. We will fight for the rights of the poor and to uphold the principles and policies of the Congress,” she said.
Maintaining that he respects laws, Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making false allegations against Opposition leaders and thinks that the Opposition will back off. “I would like to tell the people of this country that I and the Congress cannot be cowed down. I would also like to add that we will continue to fight for the weak and poor people and will work as an Opposition party and will not move back even an inch,” he said.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh said the Congress is united in support of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. “We will give a determined fight because we stand for certain values and certain ideals and nobody can detract the Congress from that path,” he added.
The Congress held demonstrations at various parts of the country against alleged victimisation by the BJP. In Delhi too, hundreds of Congress workers gathered at the party headquarters in support of the leaders. Both the Houses of Parliament had witnessed uproarious scenes over the issue in the last couple of weeks.