National Herald case: What exactly happened inside Patiala House court?

New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi were granted bail along with four others by Patiala House Court here in the National Herald case on a personal a bond of Rs 50,000 each and one surety each. They have been accused of misusing funds from a newspaper once run by their family. [caption id=“attachment_2552744” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Manmohan Singh at Patiala House court/ Naresh Sharma, Firstpost[/caption] Here’s how the visuals played out: Before the arrival of the mother-son duo, Sonia’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior Congress leaders Manmohan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit, Ambika Soni, Meira Kumar, Kumari Selja, Motilal Vohra, Oscar Fernandes, AK Antony, Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Ajay Maken stepped inside the court premises. Then Rahul and Sonia came. They got off their cars some 100 m away from the court and walked up to the courtroom amid heavy security. While entering the court premise, both of them were looking calm. When media personnel present outside the court asked them to say something, Rahul waved his hand and smiled. Both of them stopped for a while outside the main building of the court and then entered the court room and stood near the witness box on right side of the court room. Judge MM Loveleen Singh asked them to sit but they preferred to stand as accused. Kapil Sibal on behalf of the accused moved bail petition arguing that trial in this case will be long and pre and post charge evidence have to be filed therefore the accused should be given bail. The court accepted it and asked all the accused except Sam Pitroda, who could not turn up as he is ill and undergoing treatment in the United States, to furnish a bail bond of Rs 50,000 each and one surety each. Former defence minister AK Antony stood surety for Sonia and Priyanka Vadra Gandhi for Rahul. Complainant Swamy opposed the bail asking for restrictions on the Congress leaders’ travel. The court rejected his appeal saying, “They have deep roots in the society and are public functionaries. Therefore, no restrictions on their travel are required.” The complainant again urged the court to at least direct them to inform it before travelling abroad. The rejected this plea as well and fixed 20 February as the next date for hearing. The Gandhis did not seek personal exemption for the next hearing. “As an accused, both of them along with others will have to be present. Their counsel can also seek their permanent exemption because they have already turned up in the first hearing. But it is wholly discretion of the court to give them permanent exemption or not,” said senior Supreme Court lawyer KC Mittal. After the proceeding was over, the Gandhis and other Congress leaders left the court room from the front gate while Swamy was asked to move out from the rare gate. The Gandhis and other leaders walked back. In the wake of the presence of high-profile leaders in the court, the Delhi Police had made heavy security arrangement. Senior officials of the Delhi Police, Special Protection Group (SPG) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) reviewed held a meeting a day before to discussed the security arrangements at the court premises where 16 more CCTV cameras were installed yesterday in addition to 36 cameras. Hundreds of Delhi Police and SPG personnel, additional companies of BSF, RAF and CRPF were deployed. The area near gate number two of the court, where the courtroom in which the hearing took place is located, was cordoned off with deployment of the multi-layered security cover. Only security officials, lawyers and selected press men were allowed to enter the premise. All shops inside the premises were also closed.