National Herald case: Rahul to appear before ED again today, Congress plans protest

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for a fourth round of questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for a fourth round of questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi leaves the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office, after questioning in the National Herald case, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (ANI)

The former Congress chief was interrogated for nearly 30 hours, from June 13 to 15, last week amid intense protests and subsequent detention of party leaders and supporters.

While Gandhi was summoned for the fourth time on June 17, he had requested the agency to defer his questioning, in the wake of the health condition of his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has been in hospital due to Covid-related issues since June 12.

The probe agency accepted Rahul’s request and postponed his questioning to Monday.

The Congress, which held protests without police permission last week, said it will stage a peaceful stir across the country against the contentious Agnipath recruitment scheme and “Modi Govt’s vendetta politics” against Rahul.

“A Congress delegation will also meet Hon’ble Rashtrapati in the evening,” he added.

The case relates to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian (YI), which owns the National Herald newspaper. The ED 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.

Sonia has also been summoned for questioning on June 23.