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Herald case: Court questions ED action against Gandhis
The agency’s claim is that the Gandhis acquired beneficial ownership of the assets of the party-run newspaper National Herald’s parent company.
A Delhi court on Wednesday questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on its money laundering case against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, asking why the agency acted against them, when corporates, and state-owned companies routinely write off loans.
The questions were raised by special judge Vishal Gogne while hearing ED’s submissions on the point of cognisance of the charge sheet in the matter. The agency’s claim is that the Gandhis acquired beneficial ownership of the assets of the party-run newspaper National Herald’s parent company Associated Journals Limited (AJL), worth ₹2,000 crore, for a mere ₹50 lakh that was paid to the Congress Party.
“PSUs do this all the time. Banks are writing off loans all the time...what if Congress wrote off the loans?” the court asked additional solicitor general SV Raju, who represented ED.
The court went on to question as to why the agency did not name the Congress party and its decision-making body All India Congress Committee (AICC) also as accused. “The court finds it interesting that Congress, who as per the agency wrote off the loans, have not been named as an accused…if the persons who lost their shares in the debt-ridden newspaper can be the victims, then why is not the party an accused?”
During the hearing, ASG Raju maintained that the Gandhis owned the firm Young India (YI), which they used as a “facade to launder money” and “surreptitiously capture” assets worth ₹ 2000 crore held by AJL.
ED in its chargesheet filed on April 9 against former Congress presidents Sonia and Rahul Gandhi has claimed that the Gandhis are beneficial owners of YI, which acquired AJL’s assets worth ₹2,000 crore for just ₹50 lakh. The agency further claimed to have identified proceeds of crime worth ₹988 crore in the case.
Besides the Gandhis, ED has also named overseas Congress head Sam Pitroda and former journalist Suman Dubey in the charge sheet, along with the Young Indian Private Limited (YI) -- a firm in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi together hold 76% stake.
The Gandhis were represented in the court through senior counsel RS Cheema and advocate Tarannum Cheema. The court will continue hearing the matter on Thursday.
To be sure, the judge went on to clarify that the court was only trying to understand the premise of the complaint and the legal framework, and not initiate a roving inquiry.
