Cong revived AJL as it was voice of freedom movement, says Sonia
The federal agency had recorded the former Congress president’s statement under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on three dates in July 2022.
The Congress party decided to revive the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which was in financial distress and stopped operations in 2008-09, because its publications , National Herald, Qaumi Qaumi Awaz and Navjivan, had been the voice of the freedom movement, according to Sonia Gandhi’s statement to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is now part of the charge sheet in the case.
The federal agency had recorded the former Congress president’s statement under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on three dates in July 2022. This is the first time details of Gandhi’s statements have emerged.
ED has claimed that after AJL closed its operations in 2008-09, the Gandhi family took control of it in 2010-11 as part of a “well thought out conspiracy” through Young Indian Private Ltd or YI, a company in which the Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi own 76% of the equity.
“After attaining Independence, AJL publications, through articles and other activities spread awareness of our fundamental duties such as they are in the constitution of India, article 51 A (b) which states ‘to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom’. Much later when AJL publications were not doing well, (Motilal) Vohra Ji, MD and chairperson took legal advice on how to revive AJL and that is when, with the support of legal luminaries, Young Indian was set up. It is for the reasons stated above in the first part of my answer that the Congress party had supported the revival of AJL,” Sonia Gandhi said, according to an ED officer who asked not to be named. Her explanation was in response to a query on the rationale for the revival of AJL.
To the same query, Rahul Gandhi said he was not associated with AJL and that Motilal Vora would be aware of it. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are named as accused number 1 and 2 in the charge sheet filed by the agency on April 9 before a Delhi court. The court is yet to take cognizance of the charge sheet.
Calling the explanation a “self-serving theory of revival of AJL”, and citing details of charge sheet, a second ED officer said that Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Congress leader Pawan Bansal were asked to provide independent third party evidence such as a project report with regard to the scheme of revival of AJL as allegedly architected by Motilal Vohra. The officer claimed that no such evidence was forthcoming.
AJL was founded in November 1937 by Jawaharlal Nehru and published the National Herald, Qaumi Awaz in Urdu and Navjeevan in Hindi. Income Tax proceedings, initiated in 2017 revealed that YI purchased the ₹90.21 crore interest free loan given by AICC to AJL by allegedly making a payment of only ₹50 lakh to the former. Investigators have said YI was founded in November 2010, just 23 days prior to assignment of the ₹90 crore loan, with a nominal capital of ₹5 Lakh.
Congress leaders made payments in guise of donations
The ED charge sheet, according to a third ED officer, reveals that several Congress party leaders including Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar and former three-time member of Parliament , D K Suresh and entities controlled by them made payments to YI between 2015 and 2022 in the guise of donations.
“The investigation has revealed that they made donations to Young Indian on instructions from senior functionaries of the Congress party,” added this person, quoting charge sheet.
Other Congress leaders who made payments to YI include J Geeta Reddy (Telangana) and Amit Vij (Punjab), ED has claimed.
These payments, the third officer alleged, were sham transactions executed for arranging funds for payment of income tax dues against YI failing which the IT department would have initiated recovery proceedings by way of attachment and sale of its assets.
“Investigation has revealed that family members/relatives of some of the donors either contested elections on ticket of Congress Party or they were promised some positions in political hierarchy,” he said.
Congress cheated general public
Sharing further details of the charge sheet, the second officer said the Congress is a political party, and the source of its funds are contributions from its members and the general public while AJL, which had closed its newspaper publishing business in 2008 was acting as a real estate company.
“ AICC is prohibited from lending funds to a business entity. Here, the persons at the helm of affairs of AICC cheated the members (general public and followers of the Congress party) and diverted the funds to lend to a company with the ulterior motive of usurping the assets of this company in the name of another company, viz. Young Indian,” he said.
