ED charges Sonia, Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case
ED has charged Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in a money laundering case tied to the National Herald, marking a first for both leaders.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi -- the first ever charge sheet against both leaders -- in its money laundering investigation into the affairs of the party-run National Herald newspaper, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The charge sheet, filed before a Delhi court on April 9, mentions Sonia and Rahul Gandhi as accused number 1 and 2, respectively, under sections 3 and 4 (which deal with money laundering and its punishment) and section 70 (offences by companies) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or PMLA. The charges attract a maximum imprisonment of seven years if proved.
Besides the Gandhis, Sam Pitroda, the head of the Congress’ international arm, and Suman Dubey, a former journalist and close confidant of the Gandhis, who are founding directors of Young Indian Private Limited (YI) , a company in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi together hold 76% percent stake , and the company itself, have also been named as accused, the people added.
A Kolkata based private company – Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd and its office bearer Sunil Bhandari, too have been named.
The special judge for MP/MLA cases at Rouse Avenue Courts has listed the charge sheet to be taken up for cognizance on April 25, according to the court order seen by HT.
The Congress termed the charge sheet “political vendetta” and “intimidation by the PM (Prime Minister Narendra Modi)” and “the HM (home minister Amit Shah) “.
“Seizing the assets of the National Herald is a state-sponsored crime masquerading as the rule of law. Filing charge sheets against Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and some others is nothing but the politics of vendetta and intimidation by the PM and the HM gone completely berserk,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted on X.
“The INC and its leadership will not be silenced. Satyameva Jayate,” he added.
On April 11, two days after filing the charge sheet, ED also issued notices to take possession of the immovable assets of Associated Journals Ltd (the publisher of National Herald) and Yound Indian, worth ₹661 crore, including the National Herald house in Delhi. Assets worth ₹751.9 crore ( ₹661 crore immovable and shares worth ₹90 crore) of AJL and YI were attached by it on November 20, 2023.
ED’s primary allegations against the Gandhis is that they are beneficial owners of YI, which acquired the assets of the newspaper’s parent company Associated Journals Limited, worth ₹2,000 crore, for a mere ₹50 lakh. According to the ED charge sheet details shared by an officer on Tuesday, the current market value of these assets is ₹5,000 crore.
The federal agency claims to have identified proceeds of crime worth ₹988 crore in the case. This, according to its court documents accessed by HT, includes real estate and other assets worth ₹755 crore, shares worth ₹90 crore, and rent of ₹142 crore earned since 2010-11. The rent was earned by AJL from its prime properties in Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, Panchkula, Lucknow and Patna after YI took over the company in Financial Year 2010-11, ED has claimed.
While Sonia Gandhi, a sitting Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, was questioned by ED in July 2022 for about 11 hours spread over three days, Rahul Gandhi – a member of parliament from Rae Bareli constituency – was interrogated for nearly 40 hours in four sittings in June 2022. They were questioned about their role in day-to-day functioning of YI, a loan of ₹90.21 crore given by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to AJL; and transactions related to the development of a AJL property in Mumbai.
Established in 1937 by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, AJL published the National Herald, Qaumi Awaz in Urdu and Navjeevan in Hindi. It was given land in various cities of India for the purpose of publishing newspapers. But it closed operations in 2008 and offered a voluntary retirement scheme to all employees, which was accepted by them; by then, the debt on its books had risen to ₹90 crore, the money coming from the Congress Party. It was taken over in 2010 by Young Indian (YI), a company in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi together hold 76%. The allegation is that YI paid ₹50 lakh against the loan and took over AJL.
ED has alleged that AJL, which got land in various cities at concessional rates to run the National Herald, but closed the newspaper in 2008, relaunched its news operations around 2016 “just to show that it is still engaged in publishing of newspapers” after an investigation was started into company’s affairs by various agencies.
The agency charge sheet, according to the officer cited above, reveals that “by transferring the majority shareholding of AJL to YI, the accused effectively transferred the beneficial ownership of all properties of AJL worth thousands of crores to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi”.
The probe was initiated in 2021, based on a cognizance order issued on June 26, 2014, by a Delhi court based on a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
Officials said the next date of hearing in Swamy matter in the Delhi court is on August 2, 2025.
