Oscar Fernandes: Who is Swamy to say he’ll send us to jail

Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Oscar Fernandes, one of the accused in the National Herald case, has lashed out at BJP leader Subramanian Swamy claiming that his moves against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others were political in nature.

After appearing before a court in Delhi on Saturday afternoon in connection with the case, Mr Fernandes flew down to Mangaluru Saturday night to participate in a family function. “Subramanian Swamy has been making pronouncements which normally the judiciary has to do. He gives statements like ‘I will send them (Sonia, Rahul and other accused in the case) to prison.’ Who is he to send us to prison if found guilty Swamy keeps saying ‘I have told the Prime Minister. I have kept the PM informed.’ If this is not political, then why does he have to tell the PM ” the former Union minister wondered.

“Swamy says he would see to it that we are sent to prison. Now if he is going to send us to prison, then where is the need for a trial We don’t have to reply to these issues. But he has been making these claims, so we have to react,” he said.

“If there is a threat to Swamy, it would have been there from the beginning. On the eve of the court issue, they (government) allot him a house. Swamy already has security. These are matters which expose them. There is no need for us to say it is a politically motivated move,” he said.

On the Congress allowing Parliament to function, Oscar said there was no connection between the working of Parliament and the National Herald case. “There are various issues which come up in Parliament like the Arunachal Assembly controversy or the raid on the Delhi CM’s office. There is no connection between the working of the House and the Herald case,” he said. He denied that the Congress had toned down its protest in the country. “The party leadership had clearly said we would go by the court’s decision on the Herald issue. Leaders had conveyed the message to the people that we will not do anything that will not go well with the court’s proceedings,” he said. Box Mr Oscar Fernandes who was in court along with AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul on Saturday, gave an account of what happened in the courtroom on Saturday afternoon. “The magistrate asked us to furnish the bond (for bail) and we did. Subramanian Swamy pleaded before the court that we should not be allowed to go abroad without the court’s permission. The magistrate overruled his plea. There was hardly any argument except for this,” said Oscar narrating the happenings in the court.

“Swamy did no even say that we should not be allowed to go abroad. He only said that we should not be permitted to go abroad without the court’s permission. All this was over in five minutes. After this, the process of providing surety and bonds to the court started. We were asked to appear on February 20. The legal procedure and directions of the court will be followed,” Oscar said.