Court discharges Sonia Gandhi's aide in assets case

New Delhi, Jan 21: Vincent George, a close aide of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, was on Wednesday discharged by a court in a 13-year-old disproportionate assets case.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge J.P.S. Malik discharged George in the case after taking note of the Delhi High Court's Dec 23, 2014 order which quashed the summons issued by a trial court against him.

The high court had allowed the plea of George seeking quashing of summons issued against him July 18, 2013.

In an interim order Aug 26, 2013, the high court had stayed the proceedings before the trial court, which had rejected the CBI's closure report and said there was sufficient material to proceed against him. George was summoned Aug 30, 2013.

In 2000, a first information report was registered against George that said he possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income between November 1984 and December 1990.

The CBI said that while holding the office of a public servant as private secretary to former prime minister and the then Leader of Opposition Rajiv Gandhi, George acquired assets in the name of his wife, children and close relatives which were disproportionate to known sources of his income.

The CBI closure report, however, said the investigation showed that foreign remittances, which were included in the category of income of George and his family members, came from the US and were sent by other family members as financial help.