Shanti Bhushan breaks silence on 'wholly illegal' transfer of shares in National Herald case

The National Herald imbroglio only seems to be getting worse for the Congress, even as it tries to hard to portray the allegations as a conspiracy. In the latest revelations that could put the party in a tight spot, former law minister Shanti Bhushan has said that he will challenge the transfer of shares from Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), which ran the National Herald newspaper to Young Indian Limited, according to a report by The Times of India . Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are said to hold 38 percent stakes in Young Indian each.

Bhushan, one of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party,  reportedly said his father had bought more than 300 shares of AJL in 1938, which he had inherited. He has termed the transfer of shares from AJL to YIL as ‘wholly illegal’, as per The Times of India report.

Only days earlier, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi was quoted as saying in the Economic Times that no one ‘from the Congress or the company’ had complained of having been cheated and questioned why BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who had ’no locus standi’ was making the allegations. With Bhushan, who claims that his father owned shares in AJL, now coming forward with his accusations, it remains to be seen what the Congress’ line of defence will be.

Speaking to Firstpost in 2012 , Shanti Bhushan had pointed to alleged wrongdoings in the case by the Congress president and vice-president. “…Here, the money is given to a private company where Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi hold 38 percent shares each (76 percent together). This gives the Gandhi family the virtual power to have perpetual control over the utilisation of Associated Journals’ properties.,” he had said.

According to the petition filed by Swamy, YIL paid merely Rs 50 lakh to recover an amount of over 90 crore that AJL is said to have owed to the Congress. Subsequent to the Delhi High Court ruling which effectively means that Sonia and Rahul will have to appear in court, the National Herald issue has rocked the Parliament, with both Houses being repeatedly disrupted by Congress protests against what it has termed as ‘political vendetta’ on the part of the government.