New Delhi: A Delhi court is set to pronounce on Saturday its order on whether to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) chargesheet in the National Herald money laundering case, which names several top Congress leaders as accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The high-profile case lists Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress Overseas chief Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey and others in connection with alleged financial irregularities linked to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the original publisher of the National Herald newspaper.
Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Court had reserved the order on 7 November after the ED filed additional clarifications following the court’s inspection of the case records and questions raised over certain documents. Noting the fresh submissions by the Additional Solicitor General on behalf of the ED, the judge listed the matter for orders on 29 November, saying further scrutiny of the material was required before deciding on cognisance of the prosecution complaint.
According to the ED, senior Congress functionaries conspired to wrongfully acquire control of AJL’s assets, valued at over Rs 2,000 crore, by paying a nominal Rs 50 lakh through Young Indian, a company in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are the majority stakeholders. The agency has alleged that the transaction structure, fund flow patterns and related documentation reflect a scheme to usurp AJL’s properties and convert assets linked to the erstwhile newspaper into personal and organisational gains for the Congress leadership.
The court had earlier deferred its decision, observing that a closer examination of transaction documents, alleged rent receipts and the trail of funds was necessary to determine whether the ED’s prosecution complaint met the statutory threshold for cognisance under the PMLA. The ED has further claimed that several senior leaders were involved in “fake transactions”, alleging that individuals acting on their instructions issued purported advance rent payments for years using fabricated rent receipts to mask the alleged laundering of proceeds of crime.
Congress leaders, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, have rejected the ED’s allegations, describing the money laundering charges as “strange” and “unprecedented” and maintaining that the AJL transactions were legal and transparent. The controversy around the National Herald assets first drew major public attention in 2012, when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint in a trial court accusing Congress leaders of cheating and breach of trust in the process of acquiring control of AJL, which later formed the basis for the ED’s money laundering probe.
(Inputs from IANS)