The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued notices to take possession of immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore (over $76 million) in Mumbai, Delhi, and Lucknow, it had attached in the money laundering case against Congress-controlled Associated Journals Limited (AJL) in the National Herald case.
ED, India’s law enforcement and economic intelligence agency, informed on Saturday that it initiated proceedings to take possession of properties in the money laundering case.

On April 11, the probe agency issued notices to property registrars in Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow, where the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), acquired by Young Indian Limited (YIL)—a company beneficially owned by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi—are located, and affixed notices at the Herald House at ITO in Delhi, premises in the Bandra area of Mumbai, and the AJL building at Bisheshwar Nath Road in Lucknow.

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The case pertains to allegations of financial irregularities and misappropriation of funds in the acquisition of AJL, which once published the National Herald newspaper, by YIL.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi are named as the accused in the case.

The ED said in a press release that investigations revealed the alleged laundering of proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 988 crore, linked to AJL’s assets. The proceedings were initiated in compliance with Section 8 of PMLA, 2002 and Rule 5(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Rules, 2013, after an Adjudicating Authority on April 10 confirmed the earlier provisional attachment of the properties.

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In November 2023, the ED had provisionally attached immovable properties in Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow, valued at Rs 661 crore, along with AJL shares worth Rs 90.2 crore.

A separate notice has been issued to Jindal South West Projects, the current occupant of three floors in Herald House, Mumbai. The company has been directed to deposit all future rent payments directly with the ED.
The agency alleges that the assets were illegally acquired and laundered through a complex political-financial nexus involving the Congress leadership.

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The ED began its probe in 2021 after a private criminal complaint was filed by Subramanian Swamy before a Delhi court in 2014. The complaint accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other senior Congress leaders of orchestrating a fraudulent takeover of AJL’s properties, estimated to be worth over Rs 2,000 crore, through Young Indian for a nominal sum of Rs 50 lakh.

Sonia and Rahul are majority shareholders of Young Indian and hold 38 per cent shares each.

Both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court allowed the investigation to proceed. During the probe, the ED conducted searches and seizures at multiple locations and claimed to have uncovered documents pointing to additional layers of financial irregularities.

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The agency said that the AJL-Young Indian network was used to generate illicit funds of Rs 18 crore through bogus donations, advance rent of Rs 38 crore, and Rs 29 through advertisements.

ED officials said the move is aimed at halting the continued use of tainted assets.