NEW DELHI, April 15 -- The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday filed a chargesheet in a Delhi court against the top leadership of the main opposition Congress party - Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in the alleged National Herald money laundering case.
A special court fixed the hearing on April 25. "The present prosecution complaint shall next be taken up for consideration on the aspect of cognisance... when Special Counsel for the ED and the Investigating Officer shall also ensure production of the case diaries for perusal by the court," special Judge Vishal Gogne said. The chargesheet was filed on April 9.
The chargesheet also names Congress leader Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey, a former associate and friend of former prime minister late Rajiv Gandhi, as accused. The chargesheet was filed under Sections 3 (money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act by ED's special public prosecutor N K Matta.
This is the first time a chargesheet has been filed against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, both former presidents of the Congress.
The Gandhis have not responded so far, but Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury hit out at a "conspiracy" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dismissed the probe agency's actions.
"This is PM Modi's conspiracy to destroy the Congress... you can make them (the ED) do anything and we don't care about that. We are not afraid of the BJP and PM Modi... we will fight this..." he said.
On Saturday the ED had issued notices to take possession of immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore. These had been attached - in November 2023 - to the investigation into allegations of money laundering against Congress-controlled Associated Journals Limited, or AJL.
The notices - which sought vacation of the premises - were affixed at properties in Delhi, Mumbai's Bandra area, and the AJL building on Bisheshwar Nath Road in Lucknow. Among these are the iconic National Herald House on Delhi's Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
The ED began its investigation in 2021. This was on the basis of a June 2014 order from Delhi's Patiala House court based on a private complaint filed by the BJP leader and former Union minister Subramanian Swamy.
Swamy claimed a criminal conspiracy by prominent Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others, and a company, Young Indian Pvt Ltd, to launder money from the fraudulent takeover of properties belonging to AJL and valued at over Rs 2,000 crore.
The complaint, the ED said, highlighted a "criminal conspiracy" by several prominent political figures, including the first family of the Congress party led by Sonia, her MP son Rahul, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes aside from Dubey, Pitroda and a private company Young Indian for their alleged involvement in money laundering in relation to the fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the Associated Journals Limited (AJL).
"The legal proceedings against the accused have faced challenges but have been upheld by both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India, allowing the investigation to proceed," the ED said.
"Young Indian and AJL properties were used for generation of further proceeds of crime in the form of bogus donations to the tune of Rs 18 crore, bogus advance rent to the tune of Rs 38 crore and bogus advertisements of Rs 29 crore," the ED has alleged.
Sources said that the ED has identified the "proceeds of crime" in this case at Rs 988 crore and the current market value of the linked assets at Rs 5,000 crore.
The National Herald is a newspaper published by AJL and owned by Young Indian. Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are majority shareholders in the latter, with 38 per cent shares allotted to each.
The Congress described the ED's chargesheet as vendetta politics and claimed the seizing of assets in the case was a "state-sponsored crime masquerading as the rule of law".
"Filing chargesheets against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and some others is nothing but politics of vendetta and intimidation by the prime minister and the home minister gone completely berserk," Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
"Seizing the assets of the National Herald is a state-sponsored crime masquerading as the rule of law," the Congress leader said.
He asserted the Congress and its leadership would not be silenced and the truth shall prevail. Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi called the case "fake" and said the government was exposing itself and its vendetta politics by indulging in such action.
"As stated years ago when this was initiated, the National Herald case is a one-trick wonder where this government has started a money-laundering investigation without there being any movement of money, any movement of property, any activity which caused a transfer," he said in a video statement. A mere not-for-profit company was created to manage the National Herald's affairs where no dividends can be paid, no commercial transactions take place. The mere creation of that company with Sonia Gandhi and other members of the Gandhi family or the late Motilal Vora has been treated as an act of money laundering, he alleged.
"Now, there is nothing more except a chargesheet filed in a fake and non-existent case. Anyway, this will be contested fully in all aspects. Earlier, all statements had been recorded in this regard by the persons, including former Congress president Sonia Gandhi," the Congress leader said.
"I think the government, by such matters, is only exposing itself and its campaign of political vendetta because there is absolutely nothing in this case in the legal sense," he added.
with agency inputs
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.