The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed chargesheet against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in a money laundering case related to National Herald case. The chargesheet also names Congress leader Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as accused persons.
The development comes days after the probe agency said it has served notices to take possession of immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore that it had attached as part of its investigation linked to the Congress-controlled newspaper and the Associated Journals Limited (AJL).
AJL is the publisher of the National Herald news platform (newspaper as well as web portal) which is owned by Young Indian Private Limited. Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are majority shareholders of Young Indian with 38 percent shares held by each one of them.
The immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore, apart from shares of AJL worth Rs 90.2 crore, were attached by ED in November 2023 to "secure the proceeds of crime and to prevent the accused form dissipating the same."
According to the ED, the total proceeds of crime in the case was Rs 988 crore.
Soon after the chargesheet was filed, Congress general secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said that seizing the assets of the National Herald is a 'state-sponsored crime' masquerading as the rule of law. He added that the filing chargesheets is nothing but the politics of vendetta.
Examining the chargesheet, which was filed on April 9, special judge Vishal Gogne 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.
-With PTI inputs
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