"I'm partly allowing your application. Not for 10 years but three years," the judge told Gandhi's lawyer.?The former Congress chief is an accused in the National Herald case in which BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is the complainant.

A Delhi court earlier?on Wednesday allowed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy to file a reply opposing Rahul Gandhi’s application seeking permission for issuance of a fresh ordinary passport which he surrendered after his disqualification as a Member of Parliament (MP).

According to a report by LiveLaw, Swamy argued that?if Gandhi is allowed to travel abroad, it may hamper the probe in the National Herald case which pertains to the assignment of a ?90 crore loan advanced by the Congress party to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the owner of the National Herald, to Young Indian for a consideration of ?50 lakh.

In his private complaint,?Subramanian Swamy?had accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Gandhi family-controlled Young Indian of?cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of property, the report said.

During the proceedings, Rahul Gandhi's advocate sought the grant of NOC, saying there are no criminal cases pending against him. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vaibhav Mehta, however, said Swamy had the right to file a reply on the application.

?"The applicant ceased to be a Member of Parliament in March 2023 and as such he surrendered his diplomatic passport and is applying for a fresh ordinary passport. By way of the present application, the applicant is seeking permission and no objection from this Court for issuance of fresh ordinary passport to him," the application said.

(With inputs from PTI)