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Indian Parliament adjourned over court summons to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi

Xinhua, December 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Indian Parliament was Tuesday adjourned following ruckus by the country's main opposition Congress Party over court summons to its party chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul in connection with a corruption case.

Both the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) and the Lower House (Lok Sabha) had to be adjourned for the day by the chairman and the speaker respectively after Congress members rushed to the well, shouting slogans that the case was politically motivated.

Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul were Monday asked by the Delhi High Court to appear before a lower court in the corruption case involving the acquisition of assets worth millions of now-defunct English newspaper National Herald by top leaders of the Congress by paying just peanuts.

The Congress chief also gave her first reaction to the case, saying, "I am the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi (India's first woman Prime Minister) and I am not afraid of anybody or anything," Gandhi told the media in the national capital.

Though the Congress tried to put the blame on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying it was nothing but "persecution" and "prosecution" of its top leaders by a member of the ruling party -- Subramanian Swamy.

The Indian government has, however, denied any role in the case and accused the Congress party of mixing up a court decision with politics.

"Who doesn't know that she is Indira Gandhi's daughter-in-law? We just want her, if anything and if required by the court, to appear in the court and say with proof that no penal provisions have been violated. Why is she afraid of the court?" asked Indian Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The Gandhis and a few top leaders of the party will now have to appear before the lower court on Dec. 19 this year. Endit