Delhi HC dumps AJL’s plaint against eviction in National Herald case
01 Mar 2019
The Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a petition by Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), publisher of the National Herald, challenging a single judge order to vacate the newspaper premises near the Income Tax Office (ITO) in New Delhi.
A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao rejected the appeal of Associated Journals (AJL) challenging the Centre's order to vacate the ITO premises.
The AJL, an outfit headed by Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, have been complaining about the BJP government targeting National Herald, and through it the Congress party and its leaders.
The publisher of the Congress-linked National Herald newspaper must vacate its office in the capital, the Delhi High Court said on Thursday, while dismissing a petition by the publisher against a December order to vacate.
National Herald is defunct and Associated Journals, which claims to the publisher of the newspaper, cannot hold on to the premises as per lease terms.
The government had informed the court that no press had been functioning in the premises in central Delhi for at least 10 years and it had been used only for commercial purposes, which is a violation of its lease terms. The government, in October last year, cancelled the publisher's 56-year-old lease for the building in Delhi's ITO and asking it to vacate it.
In its 21 December 2018 order, the Delhi High Court asked Associated Journals Limited to vacate the premises within two weeks, after which eviction proceedings would be initiated.
The order came on a case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleging that Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, who is also president of the Congress party, set up a company to buy AJL’s debts worth Rs90 crore,
In his petition, the BJP leader alleged that the Gandhis used Congress party funds to pay off AJL’s debts even though the publisher has real estate assets worth thousands of crores.
Subramanian Swamy had filed a case in 2012 against then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, alleging irregularities related to a loan of Rs 90 crore given by the Congress to the AJL.
AJL was the publisher of three newspapers, including National Herald, which was founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, Rahul Gandhi's grandfather.
In 2008, Associated Journals had shut down over its debts. But, in November last year, National Herald claimed a growing digital footprint and alleged targeting by the BLJP.