National Herald case: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others on charges of money laundering in the National Herald case.
The Congress on Tuesday strongly condemned the Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case. The party called it “nothing but politics of vendetta and intimidation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
What did Congress say?
The Congress also attacked Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying he has gone “completely berserk”. In an X post, the Congress said that Congress and its leadership will not be silenced on this.
“Seizing the assets of the National Herald is a state-sponsored crime masquerading as the rule of law. Filing chargesheets against Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and some others is nothing but the politics of vendetta and intimidation by the PM and the HM gone completely berserk. The INC and its leadership will not be silenced. Satyameva Jayate,” the party said.
Congress MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh said, “With the spirit of revenge, the Bharatiya Janata Party tries to trap opposition leaders. But the Congress Party is not going to be scared of this.”
ED chargesheets Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others on charges of money laundering in the National Herald case. The chargesheet also names Congress leader Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as accused persons.
Special judge Vishal Gogne examined the chargesheet, which was filed on April 9, on the point of cognisance and posted the matter for further proceedings on April 25. “The present prosecution complaint shall next be taken up for consideration on the aspect of cognisance before this court on April 25, 2025, when the special counsel for the ED and IO shall also ensure the production of the case diaries for perusal by the court,” the judge said.
What is the National Herald case?
In 1938, Jawaharlal Nehru and other freedom fighters had founded a newspaper named ‘National Herald’. It was originally published by Associated Journals Limited. The matter involving the National Herald concerns the alleged misuse of assets over Rs 2,000 crore during an equity transaction. The newspaper shut down in 2008 after a Rs 90 crore loan from the Congress failed to revive it. Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL), which included Sonia and Rahul Gandhi on its board of directors, acquired AJL in 2010.
Two years later, a complaint was filed in 2012 by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, accusing Congress leaders of betraying confidence and cheating on the acquisition of AJL by YIL. Notably, no political organisation is permitted to transact financial business with a third party under the Income Tax Act. Swamy also claimed that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had ‘taken over’ the assets in order to gain profits. He added that the Congress had written off the remaining Rs 89.5 crore since YIL had only paid Rs 50 lakh for the right to recoup Rs 90 crore that AJL owed to the party.
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