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India's Gandhis to appear in court over National Herald case | |
(about 20 hours later) | |
The top leaders of India's opposition Congress party, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, are set to appear in court in connection with a corruption case. | |
They are accused of misusing party funds to buy a firm that published the now-closed National Herald newspaper. | |
The petitioner, Subramanian Swamy of the ruling BJP party, says the Gandhis took over the company to try to acquire more than $300m in property assets. | |
They will appear at a district court in Delhi and deny any wrongdoing. | |
Hundreds of Congress party supporters are expected to gather near the court on Saturday to support party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, reports say. | Hundreds of Congress party supporters are expected to gather near the court on Saturday to support party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, reports say. |
Mr Swamy has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for more police, citing "a high probability of law and order being disturbed". | |
'Political vendetta' | |
The Delhi high court on 7 December rejected the Gandhis' plea to be exempted from making a personal appearance in the district court. | |
The hearing is scheduled for 15:00 local time (10:30 GMT) at Patiala House in Delhi. | |
The National Herald ceased publication in 2008. | |
The party had previously said it wanted to revive the paper, established in 1938 by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. | |
But Mr Swamy has alleged that the leaders used party funds illegally to acquire the newspaper's properties. | |
The case has also disrupted the current session of parliament, with Congress MPs accusing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of a "political vendetta". | |
"It is their way of doing politics. Pure 100% vendetta," Mr Gandhi told reporters outside parliament on 10 December. | |
He said he had "full faith in the judiciary" and added that "we will see at the end what comes out. Truth will come out". | |
The BJP has rejected Mr Gandhi's allegations. | The BJP has rejected Mr Gandhi's allegations. |
"How is parliament involved if some people have been summoned by a court? You [Gandhis] want to silence the judiciary. You want to intimidate the judiciary. You are telling the judiciary, how dare you summon us," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said. | "How is parliament involved if some people have been summoned by a court? You [Gandhis] want to silence the judiciary. You want to intimidate the judiciary. You are telling the judiciary, how dare you summon us," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said. |
Congress lost the general election last year, winning only 44 of the 543 seats after governing India for 10 years. | |
The BJP won a landslide victory. |