National Herald case: Anxious moments before bail and V signs

NEW DELHI: A 20x20 foot courtroom at the Patiala House Courts on Saturday drew some top Congress leaders, who came to show solidarity with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi who appeared as accused in the National Herald case. Also present were senior advocates, family and close friends of the Gandhis and Priyanka Gandhi.
Priyanka, Sheila Dikshit and Ahmed Patel were the first to enter the courtroom.The party hierarchy was clear in the manner they entered the courtroom and sat.Former PM Manmohan Singh was in the first row, former Cabinet ministers Ambika Soni, Meera Kumar, Kumari Selja and Dikshit stood in the second row.
Rahul and Sonia appeared nervous. Rahul greeted Metropolitan Magistrate Loveleen with a smile when he reached the dais. Priyanka, who stood behind her brother, also looked tense during the seven-minute hearing. Besides Manmohan, others in the first row were Ghulam Nabi Azad and leader of opposition in LS Mallikarjun Kharge. All politicians had reached the courtroom before Sonia, who arrived with her son at 2.48pm. Sonia, Rahul and all Congress politicians got off their cars at the gate and walked to the courtroom.Only Manmohan Singh and Subramanian Swamy , complainant in the case, drove to the parking lot within the court premises.
Party legal eagles Kapil Sibal, Ashwini Kumar, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and senior advocates RS Cheema, Ramesh Kumar and others defended the high profile accused. Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, general secretary Oscar Fernandes, journalist Suman Dubey and technocrat Sam Pitroda are the other accused.
Starting the hearing at 2.51pm, the judge asked if all six accused were present. After noting that all the accused, barring Pitroda, were there, he ordered the crowd to sit.But most people, including the accused, kept standing.The Gandhis didn't speak but were seen nodding in agreement with their counsels.
When the judge granted them bail, there were smiles of relief. The sixth accused, Pitroda, was granted personal exemption on grounds of ill health. When the judge asked who would stand surety for the accused, senior politicians, AK Antony , Azad, Ajay Maken, B K Ravi Prasad and Priyanka promptly raised their hands. Antony stood surety for Sonia, Priyanka stood surety for her brother.Prasad gave surety for Vora, Azad for Fernandes and Maken for Dubey . The politicians left the court smiling, few even flashing victory signs.