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Congress protests again as ED quizzes Sonia Gandhi in National Herald case
The ED on Wednesday concluded the questioning of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case, people familiar with the development said, even as party leaders staged protests in various parts of the country terming it “political vendetta” and “harassment”.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday concluded the questioning of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case, people familiar with the development said, even as party leaders staged protests in various parts of the country terming it “political vendetta” and “harassment”.
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Officials familiar with the development said the federal agency asked Gandhi about 100 questions in 11 hours of questioning spread over three days – July 21, 26 and on Wednesday. About same number of questions were put before her son and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as well by the investigating officers last month, when the Wayanad MP was questioned for around 50 hours.
Sticking to the party’s position in the case, both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are learnt to have told ED officers that Young Indian Pvt Ltd is a not-for-profit company and that financial transactions of the National Herald newspaper’s parent company Associated Journals Limited (taken over by Young Indian in 2010) were handled by other office bearers, including the late Motilal Vora.
“Sonia Gandhi’s questioning under PMLA is concluded for now. No fresh summons issued to her,” an ED official said, requesting anonymity. “If at a later stage, there is any document or fact which requires her to appear before the probe team, then the decision will be taken accordingly.”
A second officer said the 100 questions put forth before Gandhi revolved around transactions worth ₹90.21 crore from AICC (All India Congress Committee) to AJL over a period of time, the purchase of AJL by YI by just paying ₹50 lakh, the ₹1 crore invested by a Kolkata-based shell company in YI , her 38% stake in YI, and her participation in managing day-to-day affairs of the National Herald newspaper.
The ₹1-crore loan taken by YI from Kolkata-based firm was flagged as a suspicious transaction in the Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the finance ministry. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have a stake of 76% in Young Indian.
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, which are the basis of ED’s probe, revealed that YI purchased the ₹90.21 crore interest free loan given by the All India Congress Committee to AJL, by making a payment of only ₹50 lakh to the former.
Investigators 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. “Young Indian did not even have any funds of its own for purchase of the loan of ₹90 crore of the AICC,” an IT department document seen by HT stated.
The Congress has repeatedly said that the transaction was done to help save the newspaper and pay the salaries of journalists and staffers at a time when AJL faced huge debts. It argued that the decision helped revive the organisation and blames the central government of raking up an old issue to target the Gandhi family.
ED’s contention is that AJL (now YI) has assets worth ₹800 crore, mostly land, in many cities, which are now controlled by Gandhis by virtue of transfer of majority stake to them.
Earlier, the Congress chief reached the ED office in central Delhi at 11 am accompanied by Rahul Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. She was questioned for close to three hours on Wednesday.
Delhi Police deployed a huge force, including CRPF and RAF personnel, and barricaded the over 1-km stretch between Gandhi’s Janpath residence and the ED office.
This is the first time that Sonia Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, has been questioned by any investigating agency.
The federal agency will analyse the statements recorded under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Gandhis as well as other Congress leaders – Pawan Bansal and Mallikarjun Kharge — who were questioned in April this year, to finalise its probe.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police detained several Congress MPs and workers, who were protesting against the questioning of Gandhi by ED.
Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, party MPs Gaurav Gogoi, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Shakti Singh Goyal, Ranjeet Ranjan and Manickam Tagore among others were detained soon after they staged a protest at Vijay Chowk in Capital.
The Congress MPs raised slogans against the “misuse” of agencies such as ED, terming it as a “murder of democracy”.
“We will keep fighting against the misuse of ED and other agencies,” Kharge, the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, told reporters.
Chowdhury said the manner in which investigative agencies are being used it seems the government wants an “Opposition-free India”.
“For the third day, Congress MPs staging legitimate and peaceful protests at Vijay Chowk have been taken away to God (and PM and HM know) alone knows where. This is Muzzling Of Democracy In India in action!” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.
BJP president JP Nadda hit out at the Congress for its protests against the summoning of Sonia Gandhi by ED, saying the Opposition party thinks that one family is above the law. “But this wouldn’t work in this country as laws and rules are equal for all,” Nadda said. “Everybody is answerable in front of law, and the Gandhis should answer the investigation agencies, but they think they are above the law.”
(With agency inputs)
