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Kharge quizzed by ED in national herald money laundering case
The ED on Monday examined Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in connection with its money laundering probe in the National Herald case, people familiar with the development said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday examined Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in connection with its money laundering probe in the National Herald case, people familiar with the development said.
Kharge, 79, also the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, was summoned before ED officers as the agency wanted to record his statement in the Associated Journal Ltd case.
The Congress leader is said to be an office bearer of Young Indian Pvt Ltd, a company which acquired AJL.
The ED has also summoned former Union minister Pawan Bansal, AJL’s managing director and interim treasurer of Congress party, on Tuesday for interrogation, the people cited above said.
The ED has been probing AJL and the role of various Congress leaders under the anti-money laundering law since 2016 after taking cognisance of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case.
The agency had alleged that the accused in this case, which includes former Haryana chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and late Congress leader Motilal Vora, “used the proceeds of crime” in the form of a land plot allotted illegally to AJL in Panchkula, and pledged it to avail loan from a Syndicate Bank branch (Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg) in Delhi to construct a building in Mumbai’s Bandra area.
This property, valued at ₹16.38 crore, was attached by the ED in 2020.
Also, Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy, in a private criminal complaint filed before a trial court, had accused Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying only ₹50 lakh, through which Young Indian Pvt Ltd obtained the right to recover ₹90.25 crore that AJL, the owner of National Herald, owed to the Congress.
The Delhi High Court in February last year had issued a notice to the Gandhis for their response on the plea of Swamy seeking to lead evidence in the matter before the trial court.
They, however, contended in the Delhi High Court that the plea by Swamy was “misconceived and premature”.
Kharge had on Sunday said all opposition parties should unite against the BJP to relieve people of its “oppression”.
There was no official statement from the Congress on Kharge’s examination till Monday evening.
However, an aide of Kharge said, “The ED had been asking Oscar Fernandes to submit certain documents of Young Indian for an enquiry. After his demise, Young Indian requested Shri Kharge to take over as Director of Young Indian only on December 3 (last year). He is going to submit the documents (to the ED) on behalf of the organisation.”
