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In a setback to Gandhis, the Delhi High Court has summoned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi in connection with <keyword id="2376868" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Herald-case">National Herald case</keyword>. 
 
The high court refused to stay a summons order passed against them and has asked them to be present in a lower court on Tuesday. 
 
Judge Sunil Gaur also refused to grant the Gandhis exemption from appearance. 
 
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, in his petition, has accused the Gandhis of grabbing the properties owned by National Herald by buying over its publishers through an outfit in which the Gandhis hold 86% stake. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul summoned to appear in lower court in National Herald case

<keyword id="689" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sonia-Gandhi">Sonia Gandhi</keyword> and <keyword id="5268" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi">Rahul Gandhi</keyword> will appear in the court for the hearing the infamous <keyword id="2376868" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Herald-case">National Herald Case</keyword>. The lawyers of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her deputy Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders are likely to seek bail from a Delhi court on Saturday in the National Herald case. 

	What
 National Herald is a now defunct paper founded by Jawaharlal Nehru. BJP leader <keyword id="6370187" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Subramanian-Swamy">Subramanian Swamy</keyword> filed a complaint in 2012 alleging misappropriation of funds by top Congress leaders, including Sonia and Rahul. He alleged that the Gandhis acquired Rs 2000 cr through cheating and that their YIL took over AJL that owned Herald. 

	Court
 

	“Modus Operandi” of taking AJL control shows “criminal intent”

	 
	 
	(Image credits: indiatimes)

The National Herald
Case: All you need to know

Both Sonia &amp; <keyword id="5268" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi">Rahul Gandhi</keyword> were granted bail in the <keyword id="2376868" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Herald-case">National Herald case</keyword>. The next hearing in the case will take place on February 20. In the backdrop of National Herald case, Congress launched a no-holds barred attack against government, accusing it of resorting to "unprecedented" level of vendetta politics and targeted Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>, saying the petitioner <keyword id="6370187" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Subramanian-Swamy">Subramanian Swamy</keyword> was his "mask". Just before Congress President <keyword id="689" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sonia-Gandhi">Sonia Gandhi</keyword> and her son Rahul Gandhi appeared before a court here, a host of party leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, <keyword id="63771" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mallikarjun-Kharge">Mallikarjun Kharge</keyword>, Anand Sharma and Randeep Singh Surjewala, addressed the media to attack the NDA government, particularly Modi. 

	Azad said Congress was not afraid of "targeting" by the Modi dispensation and asserted that the more the party is attacked, the sooner it will return to power. 
 

	"The BJP government is resorting to unprecedented level of vendetta politics. The country has never seen this kind of politics. We will fight out the battle," said the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha. 
 

	Calling Swamy a "mask" for Modi, he said the BJP functionary has been awarded with a bungalow for dragging Congress leadership to court even though he was not a Parliamentarian or government official.

	 
	 
	(Image credits: indiatimes)

The National Herald Case: Sonia and Rahul Gandhi granted bail, Congress rejoice

<keyword id="43868" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mamata-Banerjee">Mamata Banerjee</keyword>'s Wednesday visit to <keyword id="689" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sonia-Gandhi">Sonia Gandhi</keyword>'s Delhi residence was not only to greet the latter on her birthday. If reports from political galleries are to be believed, there is going to be a newfound alliance between Congress and Trinamool. However, senior officials of both parties are rubbishing these reports, citing it as an informal chit-chat between old friends. Interestingly, it was after three years that Banerjee was paying a visit to ‘old friend’ Gandhi's residence. 
 The rushed meeting between Banerjee and Gandhi could have had an agenda of preventing an electoral alliance between Congress and CPM. Her party, Bengal TMC, had earlier committed of not disrupting any of the Parliamentary proceedings, but has now shown support to Congress by staging a walk out protesting against the court's summon issued to Sonia Gandhi in <keyword id="1217689" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Herald">National Herald</keyword> case. 
 
What gave rise to these speculations are some recent instances when Banerjee and Gandhi interacted with each other. Both had exchanged Diwali wishes in October, after hugging each other in August, when they met at the central hall in Parliament. 
 
"Even though I am not associated with any political party, as an outsider I feel that Mamata Banerjee is feeling a bit nervous. The nervousness is taking her from this door to that door. In the past three years, she only abused Congress and called them worthless. Suddenly, she overcame all bitterness and is trying to recover the relationship that she built before 2011 assembly election. Now, before 2016 elections, she appears to be really desperate," veteran parliamentarian and former speaker, Somnath Chatterjee told ET. 
 

	<a href="http://www.politicalmirror.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mamata-Banerjee-Sonia-Gandhi.jpg">Image source</a>

Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi with a secret agenda, claim political rumors

Every year has its own share of controversies and interesting twists and turns play a crucial role in the events. The year 2015 was no exception either. This year too, the country had its incidents, incidences and things that cropped up as aftermath, making some of them hot cakes in terms of news this year. 
 
As we close in on wrapping up the year, here’s what made the headlines in 2015 and shaped the country’s opinion both, socially and politically, sometimes ushering in major change in perception about the country in the world’s eyes. 
 
<keyword id="3119826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Award-Wapsi">Award Wapsi</keyword> This must have been the most significant event of the year and happened right before the <keyword id="175111" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bihar-elections">Bihar elections</keyword>. Award wapsi, a movement of sorts, was started a little while after murder of rationalist thinker and writer M M Kalburgi in Karnataka. Writers Nayantara Sehgal and Uday Prakash were among those who set the tone. This year, the biggest literary event was not a book release or something, but more like a writer standing up for his right to speak what he sees as truth. The writers were chided for siding with Congress party since most of them received awards during the tenure of Congress government. 
 
National Herald case 
Apart from Award Wapsi, this was another headline grabber which almost made demi gods out of Congress first line leaders. AICC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi made an appearance in court over murky National Herald assets usurping case, which cost the country quite dearly since Congress stalled the discussions over some crucial issues such as GST in parliament, over ‘vendetta’ politics. 
 
Modi Pakistan-Afghan visit 
Towards the end of the year, the Prime Minister who has been jocularly targeted for his trips aboard sprang up a surprise and visited his counterpart in Pakistan absolutely out of turn, thus catching everyone by surprise. His move was both appreciated and criticized in equal measures by those who love him, and by those who simply didn’t like this approach. But, it looks like the White House seems to have welcomed this new found bonhomie between neighbours who have been sworn enemies over several issues. 
 
Shah Rukh, Aamir Khan’s (controversial) intolerance remarks 
This year when people spoke of social and cultural differences, they were targeted on social media and how! Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan who spoke against the rising incidents of ‘intolerance’ and the subsequent fear that has been the result of this, they were targeted badly for everything they said and did. Many from Bollywood including Raveena Tandon, Madhur Bhandarkar and Anupam Kher condemned these remarks made by the two Khans. The issue still simmers on. 
 
No women in temples, so what! 
It started with Ayyappan temple in Sabarimala, Kerala where a trustee said they would put scanners soon to keep menstruating women from visiting temples and angering the gods. Soon after, BJP leader Pankaja Munde in Mumbai seemed to have agreed with this line of thought. She asked, in all calm tone, yes women have not been allowed to visit temples in particular days. So what?! This irked feminists and people across the social media, who ensured their spoke their minds against this medieval stance against menstruating women. 
 
Meat ban during Paryushan Parva 
The BJP government in Maharashtra banned meat during the Jain fasting period called Paryushan Parva. This angered people from across social strata, who were sure that the BJP was driving a wedge between communities that ate meat and those that didn’t consume meat. This was called a social experiment of the worst kind, which would have repercussions on people’s food habits where forced opinions would mean democracy had ceased to exist even in people food habits. 
 
Sadhvi Prachi 
In keeping with the continued tradition of letting lose a volley of abuses and irrational statements, asking people to go to Pakistan if they were opposed to the ideologies of BJP government which predominantly upheld Hindu values and the way of life, that an alternate faith was next to impossible. Sadhvi Prachi being just a representative of all those medieval thoughts and barbaric mindset, kept the newspapers busy with her idiosyncrasies while BJP leadership failed to rein her in. 
 
Yakub Memon 
Hanging of 1997 Mumbai blast main accused Yakub Memon, who was held guilty by courts in 2007 the country witnessed some tense moments and swift working by the courts even on the previous night he was to be hanged on July 30. 
 
Though his death didn’t create a law and order situation, international media lost no opportunity to ensure this incident was bracketed under ‘intolerance’ towards Muslim brethren. 
 
Bihar elections 
This was the single most significant incident that probably indicated the image of BJP was on a journey downhill. Having doled out goodies in form of packages, and most engaging and intense campaigning by the who’s who of BJP including Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi, the MahagatBandhan with Nitish Kumar and Lalu at the helm held people’s hopes. That is where exactly their votes went too. But in the run up to event, there was a lot of bad blood that spilled forth. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Political controversies that made headlines in 2015

The Insolvency and <keyword id="3126801" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bankruptcy-Bill">Bankruptcy Bill</keyword> 2015, tabled in the parliament last week, assumes importance as one of the most important items on the government’s agenda after the constitutional amendment bill to roll out the Goods and Services Tax. 
 As the logjam in the Parliament in the last two sessions for different reasons, including opposition’s demand for resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Congress over dragging Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to court in the National Herald case, hurt the government’s plan to roll out <keyword id="6354679" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="GST">GST</keyword> by April 2016, the government hopes to save face by pushing the bankruptcy law. 
 
For starters, the bankruptcy law is aimed at unifying and overhauling rules governing the liquidation or revival of ailing firms into a single code. The bankruptcy code will make it easier for companies to wind up failed businesses and bring India on a par with developed nations in terms of resolving bankruptcy issues. 
 
Currently, the country has no comprehensive law to deal with bankruptcy and insolvency, ranking the country lower than most nations in this respect. 
 
India is placed 136 in terms of resolving insolvency in a World Bank list of 189 nations. 
 Despite being the world’s fastest-growing major <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword>, the country takes 4.3 years to resolve insolvency issues while Nepal does it in less than half the time. The bankruptcy code is expected to bring the time down to less than a year. 
 
A single comprehensive law will also place India on a level-playing field along with developed countries. For example, the US has a bankruptcy code that comprises a few procedures offering quicker liquidation or reorganisation of businesses, including Chapter 7 that enables cases to be filed in bankruptcy courts, Chapter 11, which deals with reorganisation of businesses and Chapter 15 that addresses cross-border insolvencies. 
In the UK, 12 months after bankruptcy cases being filed assets are used to pay off debts or court-appointed administrators help firms turn around. In Germany, independent court-appointed insolvency practitioners help firms realise assets or reorganise the business. 
 
As the Narendra Modi-led government is looking at enhancing the investment and credit mechanism through reforms, the code is also expected to simplify the whole issue of doing business in the country. 
 
As the government pushes to get the bankruptcy law passed at the earliest, one may wonder why after all the country needs such an initiative. For one, when a business winds up, it hurts employees, shareholders, lenders and the broader economy. 
 
Expediting the process of winding up of the business can help reduce the negative effect of such as eventuality. In Indian, the winding up process—including assessing viability of the business, changing the management and selling off assets—is usually a long affair. Especially bankruptcy and winding down-related litigations carry on for several years, proving to be a drag on jobs, income generation and broader economic growth. 
 
In fact, there are some related laws— Sick Industrial Companies Act or SICA and mechanisms such as Corporate Debt Restructuring or CDR, to address the issue of insolvency of firms. But these mechanisms have been ineffective due to improper implementation, enforcement and court delays. 
 
A unified law with a focus on speedy closure will enable ailing companies to be either restructured or sold off with limited hassles. In many cases, assets can be better utilised and the firms can be restructured. Lenders and banks would be able to lend recovered money again, leading to better allocation of resources, which will have a ripple effect on the market and economy. A better insolvency ambience will also ensure enhanced availability of credit or funds for businesses by freeing up capital which in turn provides a leg-up to productivity. 
 
Earlier, a panel headed by former law secretary T K Viswanathan has suggested a 180-day timeline to deal with applications for resolving cases of insolvency or bankruptcy. During this period, the management of troubled companies is recommended to be helped by resolution professionals who in turn will be supervised by a proposed regulator. 
 
As per the recommendations of the panel, a debt recovery tribunal will act as the adjudicating authority over unlimited liability partnership firms, while the National Company Law Tribunal will be the adjudicating authority for firms with limited liability. 
 
Also, the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission has recommended the creation of a resolution corporation to monitor financial firms and to either change management to protect investors or depositors or close them altogether. This is aimed at preventing failure of large banks or financial institutions. 
 
The proposed bankruptcy law is now sent for review after the government gave in to a demand by opposition members for a scrutiny by a parliamentary panel. The panel has been asked to submit its suggestions before the parliament begins its next session in February. 
 
As passage of key bills, including bankruptcy code, will be crucial to take the government’s reforms agenda ahead, one hopes lawmakers will learn to behave responsibly, regain a sense of sanity and resist from resorting to reckless disruptive tactics that spoils crucial law making process that leads to huge losses to the exchequer besides stalling much-needed reforms.

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Sonia Gandhi, Rahul summoned to appear in lower court in National Herald case

BI India Bureau

The National Herald Case: All you need to know

BI India Bureau

The National Herald Case: Sonia and Rahul Gandhi granted bail, Congress rejoice

BI India Bureau

Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi with a secret agenda, claim political rumors

BI India Bureau

Political controversies that made headlines in 2015

Preetam Kaushik

Here’s what the bankruptcy bill all about

Preetam Kaushik

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