ED names Sonia, Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case chargesheet; Congress cries vendetta

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday filed a chargesheet in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court against Congress MPs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and the party’s overseas unit chief Sam Pitroda in the National Herald money laundering case. A special court fixed April 25 as the next date of hearing.
The chargesheet also names Congress leader Suman Dubey as an accused.

“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,” said special judge Vishal Gogne.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed vendetta politics and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of using government agencies to ‘intimidate’ the opposition leaders.

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Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury termed it 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.

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On April 11, the ED 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.

The attachment of immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore followed investigations that revealed the alleged laundering of proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 988 crore, linked to AJL’s assets.

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The notices seeking vacation of the premises were affixed at properties in Delhi, Mumbai's Bandra area, and the AJL building on Bisheshwar Nath Road in Lucknow.
The ED began its investigation in the case in 2021 on the basis of a June 2014 order from Delhi’s Patiala House court based on a private complaint filed by the BJP’s Subramanian Swamy.
The National Herald is a newspaper published by AJL and owned by Young Indian. Sonia and Rahul are majority shareholders in Young Indian, with 38 per cent shares allotted to each.

Robert Vadra questioned in Haryana estate deal case

Earlier in the day, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband and Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra was questioned by the probe agency over money laundering allegations linked to a real estate deal in Haryana.

The case is about the purchase of land in Haryana by Vadra’s company, Skylight Hospitality, in 2008 for Rs 7.5 crore. He then got a permit to develop a housing society, and the land value spiked, following which he sold it to real estate developers DLF for Rs 58 crore.

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