Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 5: Appearing before a Special Delhi Court in connection with the National Herald money laundering case, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi asserted that the Congress Party’s efforts to revive the historic National Herald newspaper were wrongly interpreted as an attempt to profit from its assets.

Arguing before Special Judge Vishal Gogne, senior advocate R S Cheema, representing Gandhi, dismissed the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) version of events as distorted and lacking factual basis. Cheema emphasized that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) had no commercial intent, but sought to restore a newspaper of pre-Independence legacy.

“The ED has presented a squinted version of the facts,” Cheema stated. “The AICC’s sole intention was to revive the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), not sell off its properties.”

He also questioned why the ED failed to submit AJL’s Memorandum of Association, which makes clear that its policies align with those of the Congress party. Citing AJL’s non-profit objectives, Cheema reiterated that the institution had never operated for commercial gain.

The ED, however, alleges that the Gandhis held a 76% majority stake in Young Indian Pvt. Ltd., which was used to acquire assets worth Rs 2,000 crore from AJL for a nominal payment of Rs 50 lakh, terming it a clear case of money laundering.

On Friday, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Sonia Gandhi, also criticised the ED's stance, calling the case “strange and unprecedented.” He contended that no tangible assets were exchanged and therefore the charges of money laundering lacked substance.

On Thursday, ASG S.V. Raju, representing the ED, concluded oral submissions and urged the court to take cognisance of the prosecution complaint filed against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other senior Congress figures including Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey.

Raju argued that Young Indian was a vehicle for usurping assets of the defunct AJL and that its other shareholders were merely “puppets of the Gandhi family.”

The case first came into public discourse in 2012 after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint accusing Congress leaders of cheating and criminal breach of trust in acquiring control of AJL.

The ED investigation alleges that Young Indian took over AJL’s properties while grossly undervaluing their market worth. In November 2023, the agency attached assets worth Rs 661 crore and AJL shares worth Rs 90.2 crore, citing them as proceeds of crime.

The next phase of the case will see the accused filing their written submissions in response to the ED’s claims, as directed by the court.