NEW DELHI: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday opposed before a Delhi court a plea by senior Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi for issuance of no objection certificate to his request for a fresh ordinary passport, saying it may hamper probe into the National Herald case.
He said that if Gandhi is allowed to travel abroad, it may affect on ongoing investigation into the case.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vaibhav Mehta said Swamy has the right to file a reply to Rahul's plea.
The court granted him time till Thursday for it and fixed the matter for consideration on May 26.
Rahul had on Tuesday filed the plea in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court for issuance of a new passport.
He said at the time when he was granted bail in the National Herald case in 2015, no travel restrictions were imposed on him.
He said he is no more a Member of Parliament after his conviction and sentence in a 2019 criminal defamation case by a Surat court, he had to surrender his diplomatic passport.
He said he needs to have a new passport.
He sought a normal passport as he is to travel to the US next month, where he is to address the Indian diaspora at the Madison Square and interact with students at Stanford University.
Rahul was sentenced to two years jail by a Surat court on March 23 for his remarks as to 'why all thieves had Modi surname' in a rally in 2019 in Kolar.
His sentence was suspended but his conviction was not stayed, resulting into his disqualification as the MP from Wayanad.
Swamy filed a private complaint in the Delhi court in the National Herald case, in which Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi were granted bail on December 19, 2015.
According to the complaint, Sonia, Rahul and others conspired to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which Young Indian (YI) had obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) owed to the Congress party.
Young Indian, which was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of Rs 50 lakh, had acquired almost all the shareholding of AJL, which was running the National Herald newspaper, it was alleged.
