The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda in the National Herald money laundering case.
According to Indian media, the case has been listed for hearing in a special court on April 25.
Special court judge Vishal Gogne said that the next phase of proceedings on the current prosecution complaint will begin on the day of hearing.
He added that on that day, the ED’s special lawyer and investigating officer will present the case diaries in the court.
It may be recalled that this is the first time in political history that a formal chargesheet has been filed against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
There has been no reaction from the Congress party or the Gandhi family on this case yet.
It may be recalled that last week, the ED had issued notices to seize immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore belonging to the Congress-affiliated company Associated Journals Limited.
These assets were attached in November 2023 and the notices were pasted at the National Herald House on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi, the AJL building on Bashish Nath Road in Bandra, Mumbai and Lucknow.
The investigation into the case was initiated by the ED in 2021 based on a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
The complaint was later filed in Delhi’s Patiala House Court in June 2014.
In which it was alleged that Congress leaders including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi had illegally acquired properties worth Rs 2,000 crore through a criminal conspiracy of the company “Young Indian Private Limited”.
It may be recalled that the National Herald newspaper is owned by AJL, which is run by the Young Indian company, whose largest shareholders are Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
On the other hand, a few hours before the chargesheet was filed, businessman Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Rahul Gandhi and husband of Priyanka Gandhi, was summoned by the ED for questioning in a money laundering case related to a property deal in Haryana.
Robert Vadra, while calling all the allegations as political vendetta, said that he had already answered the agency’s questions for hours and this action was just a tactic to put pressure on the opposition before the elections.
It may be recalled that Robert Vadra’s case relates to the purchase and sale of land in Haryana in 2008 when his company Skylight Hospitality bought the land for Rs 7.5 crore and obtained a permit for a housing society.
Later, it was sold to DLF for Rs 58 crore. At that time, the Congress government was in power in the state. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and the party have denied any irregularities.
