National Herald Case Continues To Haunt Gandhis

Less than half a year after filing a chargesheet against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a fresh case with the Delhi Police with new allegations against them.

Registered on October 3, 2025, the new FIR names Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda, Young Indian (YI) and Dotex Merchandise Ltd, Dotex promoter Sunil Bhandari, AJL and unknown others. They are charged with criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and fraud.

The ED has claimed that the accused diverted properties which the government had allocated to Associated Journals Limited (AJL) for private benefit. Police registered the case under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

The ED has invoked section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which means it can share evidence with a law enforcement  the agency subsequently in order to register a money laundering case.

Thus far, the ED says the total proceeds of the crime is around Rs 988.03 crore.

The fresh case came as the agency has been investigating the Congress and AJL and YI following a court order that took cognisance of a June 2014 complaint by Subramanian Swamy. The ED has told the cops that investigation has unearthed "additional facts" that disclose offences "beyond" the scope of Swamy’s complaint and the court order.

Reacting to the FIR on Sunday, November 30, 2025, the Congress said the fresh case was “completely bogus” and entirely invented. “No money moved, where no immovable property transferred yet money laundering (was) invented."

Earlier this year, a Delhi court had deferred taking cognisance of the ED chargesheet in the case. The court is now set to hear the case on December 16.

Swamy’s complaint says that the Gandhis fraudulently took over the AJL, and its properties which are worth over Rs 2,000 crore through Young Indian, where Sonia and Rahul together have 76 per cent equity. They paid only Rs 50 lakh, it is alleged. The Young Indian had acquired Rs 90.21 crore debt AJL owed to the All India Congress Committee and the AJL converting it into equity shares in YI.

The ED has claimed that through these transaction, the accused defrauded AJL’s shareholders and also its public donors and dishonestly inducing AICC to forego its right to recover Rs 90.21 crore advance it gave to the publisher of National Herald.

According to the ED, the AICC would have been a 99 per cent shareholder to AJL properties worth Rs 2,000 crore.

The ED complaint quoted in the FIR said Rs 18.12 crore in 2017-18 which are “not found to be genuine”. It further said that the Gandhis shuttled a tax demand of YI’s by collecting "bogus" donations. AJL also collected "bogus" advance rent of Rs 38.41 crore between 2017-2018 when “no rent agreements existed.”

The agency has also said that AJL received Rs 29.45 crore from advertisement for its newspapers between 2017-18 and 2020-21 but investigations showed that Rs 15.86 crore was given by various Congress affiliated bodies and the rest from others.

The ED claimed that when enquired with donors, some of them claimed that the money was paid to seek protection from Congress leaders in the course of their regular business.