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ED quizzes Sonia in National Herald case, Congress stages protests
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday appeared before the ED for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper, amid protests and subsequent detention of party leaders and workers across the country.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper, amid protests and subsequent detention of party leaders and workers across the country.
Gandhi has been summoned again on July 25.
With her children and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra by her side, Sonia reached the ED office around noon and was questioned for a little over two overs about Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which initially ran the newspaper, and her role in the day-to-day affairs of Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI), a company which later took over AJL, officials said.
Sonia and Rahul have a majority stake (76%) in YI.
An assistant director rank officer of the federal anti-money laundering probe agency, who had interrogated Rahul for five days in June, questioned Sonia as well. She was asked a total of 28 questions and was prompt in answering all of them, officials said.
Keeping in mind the health of the 75-year-old, who recently recovered from Covid-19, the agency allowed Priyanka to accompany her mother inside the ED office, albeit away from the interrogation room, officials said.
An aide of Priyanka later said “she was there to assist her mother for medicine and nebulizer which she needs at regular intervals”.
Officials also said that the Congress president’s questioning for the day was curtailed on her request as she was feeling unwell. The interrogators questioned her for only that much time she was comfortable with, keeping in mind she is on medication, they said.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, however, refuted the claim and said the agency told Sonia that they had no further questions and she could leave.
The case relates to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted YI. The ED registered a new case under criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a trial court in Delhi took cognisance of an Income Tax department investigation into YI on the basis of a private criminal complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.
Last month, Rahul was interrogated for several hours for five days about his role in day-to-day functioning of YI, the acquisition of AJL by YI, a purported loan of ₹90.21 crore given by All India Congress Committee (AICC) to AJL, and its subsequent assignment to YI, and transactions related to the development of a property in Mumbai.
During her next round of questioning, Sonia will be interrogated along similar lines, officials said.
The party has repeatedly claimed that YI is a non-profit organisation and that its shareholders could not make any money from the assets of the company.
The Congress, meanwhile, staged protests and took out rallies across the country against Sonia’s questioning by the ED. In Delhi, party workers staged a protest outside Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena’s residence and gathered at Raj Niwas and raised slogans against the central government.
Outside the Congress office, party leader Sachin Pilot said the ED action was a “blatant misuse of probe agencies”. “...this has to stop... they cannot muzzle the Opposition’s voice. The case has been built to demoralise the Opposition. You can’t declare people corrupt because you dislike them,” he said.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the ED is not higher than the Supreme Court. “What is that the ED wants to ‘investigate’ that will not be examined by the SC,” he asked.
The issue echoed in Parliament as well where the Congress and other Opposition parties sought to raise the issue. Union minister Pralhad Joshi, however, asked whether the Opposition party believes everyone is equal before the law or not. “Is she some ‘super human’ because she is the Congress president?” he asked.
Similar protests were also held in Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Patna, Telangana, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Shimla and Dehradun, among other areas. Party workers and supporters also raised slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government and accused it of murdering democracy.
Punjab Police used water cannons to disperse protesters in Chandigarh after they allegedly tried to force their way through barricades while heading towards Raj Bhawan.
Party supporters smeared black paint on the signboard at the ED office in Patna.
Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah, a host of party MLAs, and several party leaders were detained by police as they protested against Sonia’s interrogation in Guwahati. The protesters tried to march along the arterial Guwahati-Shillong Road from the state party headquarters Rajiv Bhawan near Bhangagarh area.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot slammed the ED probe and said ED officials should have gone to Sonia’s residence to question her. “The way Sonia Gandhi has been summoned, it could’ve been done in a much better way. The law is not equal under their (BJP) rule. It changes for those who enter the NDA coalition,” he said.
In Thiruvananthapuram, party workers staged a protest at a railway station and blocked tracks in front of a stationary train. The protesters were removed by the police and several of them were arrested and booked under various provisions of the Railway Act, an officer of the Railway Protection Force said.
In Bengaluru, Congress leaders and workers led by former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state president D K Shivakumar took out a rally from the party office on Queen’s Road which culminated with a public meeting at Freedom Park.
“The Centre is using CBI, I-T and ED to silence the opposition from raising voice against the burning issues in India,” Siddaramaiah alleged.
The protests, however, took a violent turn after the youth wing of the party allegedly set ablaze a vehicle outside the ED’s regional office in Shanthinagar. Eleven people were arrested, police said.
The Congress also rejected claims that Sonia’s questioning ended on her request, saying she was ready to return after lunch break but the officials told her there was no need for that.
Party general secretary Ramesh asserted that Sonia is ready to answer “any question, anytime”.
“At 2:20 pm, when the Congress president was preparing to leave for lunch, she was told by the ED officials that there was no need for her to come back. At 12:20 pm it was said ‘you should come back after lunch break’, at 2:20 pm it was said there is no need to come back,” Ramesh alleged.
“The Congress president told the ED officials that ‘I am ready to return, I will answer your questions, it may take till 7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm, I am ready to sit here’. But from the ED side it was said that their doctor is not available in the afternoon and tomorrow ED is busy with some court issue,” he added.
The BJP hit out at the Congress over the protests. “What is the Congress afraid of if they (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) are not guilty?” BJP spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said.
Vadakkan also recalled how no protests were held by BJP workers when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his term as Gujarat chief minister, was required to appear before the special investigation team in the Gujarat riots case
(With agency inputs)
