Rahul Gandhi to opt for jail

New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been telling his confidantes that on December 19, when he goes to the magistrate in the National Herald case, like Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, he too will not seek anticipatory bail or exemption from court appearances or for that matter special protection during cross examination.

Meanwhile, the Special Protection Group (SPG) handling security for the Gandhis has expressed their concern about their appearance in court in the National Herald case. The SPG says the court is congested and it does not want to expose the Gandhis to the risk.

A similar plea was made by the SPG in the case of P V Narasimha Rao and also for a kin of Deve Gowda, when they had to appear in court. The SPG has sought help from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to protect the area with the Central para-military forces and Delhi Police forming the outer cordon.

At least, a 100 Congress MPs, four Congress chief ministers, almost all PCC Presidents will show their solidarity with the Gandhis by marching to the lower court from 10 Janpath.

The Congress rank and file will assemble from 12:30 pm at 24, Akbar Road. The Gandhis are expected to leave for court at around 2:30 pm.

Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram deemed the Delhi HC's judgment as erroneous and said that the Gandhis received no financial benefit in the National Herald case. The former minister also went on to add that the Gandhis will appear in court on December 19.

When asked if the blocking of the GST bill in Parliament was a reaction to the National Herald case, Chidambaram said that the GST issue was not linked to the case in any way.