National Herald case: Delhi court to seek clarifications from ED on Oct 30
New Delhi: A Special Delhi Court, hearing the National Herald money laundering case, on Saturday fixed October 30 for seeking certain clarifications from the Enforcement Directorate in the case involving Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, among others.
Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne, while putting off the hearing, indicated that the clarifications from the probe agency were needed before any decision on taking cognisance of the prosecution complaint filed by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED in July alleged that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi wanted to usurp the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), a Rs 2,000 crore company, the publisher of the National Herald newspaper.
In the last hearing, the Special Court sought some details from the ED over the probe agency’s move to name Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and others, as proposed accused.
The Rouse Avenue Court, which examined the case diary, is scheduled to deliver its decision taking cognisance of the prosecution complaint.
The Rouse Avenue Court had reserved its order on July 14 after hearing detailed arguments from the federal anti-money laundering agency as well as the proposed accused, including the Gandhis.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, representing the ED, had claimed that Young Indian Ltd — in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are majority stakeholders – was used for usurping around Rs 2,000 crore assets of the National Herald by paying a nominal price of Rs 50 lakh.
ASG Raju argued that ‘Young Indian’ exists just in name, and all the other accused were puppets of the Gandhi family.
As per the ED, a conspiracy was hatched to form Young Indian to acquire control over the vast assets of the now-defunct newspaper, aimed at benefiting the top Congress leadership personally.
The Central agency said that several senior Congress leaders were involved in “fake transactions” made to AJL, the original publisher of the National Herald.
ASG Raju told the court that individuals were making fraudulent advance rent payments over several years at the direction of senior Congress functionaries with fabricated rent receipts.
The ED’s prosecution complaint claims that through this alleged malicious takeover, the Congress leadership misappropriated properties belonging to AJL and converted public trusts into personal assets.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Sonia Gandhi, had described the money laundering allegations as “really strange” and “unprecedented”, claiming that no tangible assets were involved.
Further, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the All India Congress Committee’s attempts to revive the pre-Independence era newspaper were “misconstrued” as a bid to sell its assets.
Highlighting the non-profit objectives of the company, senior advocate R.S. Cheema, representing Rahul Gandhi, said National Herald was never a commercial institution and the AICC just wanted to bring the newspaper back on the rails.
The controversy surrounding the National Herald’s assets first surfaced in 2012 when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint in a trial court, accusing Congress leaders of cheating and breach of trust in the acquisition of AJL.