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Congress dismisses ED’s ₹5,000-crore claim in National Herald case
The Congress accused the BJP-led central government of ‘killing democracy’ by reviving the National Herald case despite an earlier ‘clean chit’ to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi
The Congress on Wednesday rejected the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) claim in its latest chargesheet in the National Herald money laundering case that the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the newspaper’s parent company, are currently valued at ₹5,000 crore.
Congress communications chief and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh dismissed ED’s claim as “fake” and a mere “obligation”. He also denied allegations that AJL was improperly acquired by Young Indian (YI), a not-for-profit company in which Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi together hold a 76% stake. He rejected the assertion that the Gandhi family had earned profits or been involved in financial mismanagement.
“A lie is being told that AJL has property worth ₹5,000 crore. The Income Tax Department had estimated the property of the company to be only ₹359 crore,” Ramesh said.
On April 9, the ED filed a chargesheet naming Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused numbers 1 and 2 under sections related to money laundering. The agency announced plans to seize immovable assets belonging to AJL and YI worth ₹661 crore, including the National Herald House in Delhi. It alleged that the Gandhis, as beneficial owners of YI, acquired AJL’s assets, valued at ₹2,000 crore, for just ₹50 lakh. The ED further claimed that the current market value of these assets is ₹5,000 crore.
Founded in 1937 by Jawaharlal Nehru, AJL published National Herald, Qaumi Awaz and Navjeevan and received land across India for newspaper publishing. The company shut operations in 2008, offering a voluntary retirement scheme to employees, after its debt rose to ₹90 crore, sourcing money from the Congress Party. AJL was taken over by YI in 2010.
Ramesh stated that AJL’s debts were converted into shares following a consensus among 700 shareholders during an extraordinary general meeting, resulting in YI becoming a shareholder. He maintained that neither YI nor its shareholders have any claim to AJL’s income or assets.
Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP-led central government of “killing democracy” by reviving the case despite an earlier “clean chit” to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
“Whether it is the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), ED or I-T, the officials are being pressurised and they are compelled to conduct raids. It is unthinkable the kind of things they say informally at the raid sites,” Gehlot said. Citing the ED’s summoning of Robert Vadra after ten years in a separate case, he alleged that the BJP was attempting to portray the matter as a major scam.
The ED has alleged that AJL, which received land at concessional rates for publishing newspapers but shut down operations in 2008, resumed publication around 2016 “just to show” it was still engaged in newspaper activities after investigations began.
Ramesh said the chargesheet was filed on April 9, 2025, the 365th and final day allowed after the appellate tribunal confirmed the ED’s provisional attachment order on April 10, 2024. “The tribunal confirmed the provisional order attachment on April 10, 2024. ED had to file the chargesheet within 365 days, and a fake chargesheet was filed on the 365th day on April 9, 2025,” he said, arguing that the delay revealed the BJP’s lack of evidence.
“This is not just the government’s panic, it also reflects their mental and moral bankruptcy… We will continue to raise our voice loudly against your failures – your collusion with capitalists, your politics of hatred, how unemployed and helpless you have made this country and what is happening to women, Dalits, backward classes and Adivasis right under your nose,” he added.
Congress workers held protests across multiple states following the ED’s chargesheet. On April 15, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal announced nationwide demonstrations to oppose what the party described as the Centre’s “politics of vendetta and intimidation.”
BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Tuesday said, “The Congress party should keep in mind that this issue started in 2012, and the Delhi high court started this case in October 2013 through a PIL. The case was registered when PM Modi’s government had not even come. Therefore, there is no basis for the Congress party to do politics on this...”
