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National Herald case: ED issues fresh summons to Sonia Gandhi for probe
Sonia Gandhi was earlier asked to join the probe into the National Herald case probe on June 8. The summons were renewed after the Congress chief said she was infected with Covid-19 and sought a fresh date from the ED.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday issued fresh summons to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to appear before it on June 23 for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper.
Sonia was earlier asked to join the probe on June 8. The summons were renewed after the Congress chief said she was infected with Covid-19 and sought a fresh date from the central agency.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on June 2 said the party president has tested positive for the virus.
Sonia’s son, Rahul, who has also been summoned in the same case, is expected to appear for a probe on Monday.
While Rahul was also asked to appear on June 2, the Congress MP from Wayanad had sought a fresh date as he was out of India.
The Congress, which has termed the summons to the Gandhis as “misuse of agencies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah”, has planned to hold a protest outside the ED office on Monday, people familiar with the matter said.
The party has ruled out any fraud and alleged that the summon was a political ploy to divert attention from inflation.
The case relates to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian, which owns the National Herald newspaper.The agency registered a new case under the criminal provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a trial court in Delhi took cognisance of an Income Tax department investigation into Young Indian Pvt Ltd on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.
In April, the agency questioned senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal as part of the investigation. After the ED examined Kharge, the Congress’ whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore accused the government of “harassing” him.
