The Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing has lodged a fresh FIR naming Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with six others, after receiving a complaint from the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s Headquarters Investigative Unit.
According to reports, this new FIR includes the names of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and three additional individuals, among them Sam Pitroda, who heads the Indian Overseas Congress.
It also identifies three companies -- Associated Journals Ltd, Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd -- as entities linked to the alleged transactions.
The FIR, dated October 3, focuses on the long-running matter involving Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the company historically connected to the Congress and said to possess assets of roughly Rs 2,000 crore, as per News18.
According to the complaint forwarded by the ED, the leaders and their associates allegedly collaborated to secure control of AJL through Young Indian.
The FIR notes that Young Indian was the vehicle used for the takeover and that the Gandhis together held 76 per cent of its shares.
The ED has shared what it describes as detailed findings from its inquiry into the National Herald money-laundering angle, covering activity between 2008 and 2024.
This information was transmitted under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, a provision that permits the ED to alert another investigative body and request the filing of a scheduled offence.
If such a predicate offence is registered, it enables the ED to move forward with its own PMLA probe.
The origins of the probe lie in a private complaint by former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy. A Patiala House metropolitan magistrate took cognisance of his filing in June 2014, which set the investigative steps in motion.
Since then, the ED has examined whether any financial impropriety was involved in the acquisition of AJL.
On April 9, the agency submitted a prosecution complaint -- essentially a chargesheet -- under PMLA before the special court for MPs and MLAs at Rouse Avenue, though the court has not yet taken cognisance of that document.
Congress leaders have consistently dismissed every allegation, characterising the entire matter as a “political witch-hunt” initiated by the BJP-led central government.
When contacted by The Times of India regarding reports of the latest FIR filed by the Delhi Police, the party said it was unaware of any such action.
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