FIR names the Gandhis, Congress leaders Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, AJL and others under IPC sections 120B, 403, 406 and 420.
ED alleges a conspiracy through which Young Indian acquired AJL assets worth Rs. 2,000 crore for just Rs.50 lakh using bogus rentals and sham transactions.
Congress terms the move a political vendetta, calling the case ‘recycled’ and ‘baseless’ ahead of the December 16 court hearing.
Delhi Police has registered an FIR against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and several others in the National Herald case, based on a complaint from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) linked to its ongoing money laundering probe. The FIR, filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on October 3, invokes IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 403 (dishonest misappropriation), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating).
Those named include the Gandhis, Congress leaders Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda, Young Indian (YI), Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd, Dotex promoter Sunil Bhandari, Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) and unknown others. Most of these entities also figure as accused in the ED’s chargesheet filed in April, which awaits cognisance by a Delhi court on December 16, reported by PTI.
The ED used Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to share evidence with the police for registering a predicate offence—strengthening its own case that stems from a 2014 court order taking cognisance of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s complaint about alleged irregularities in AJL, according to PTI.
The FIR is based on ED allegations that a ‘criminal conspiracy’ enabled Young Indian—beneficially owned by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, who hold 38% shares each—to acquire AJL’s assets worth over Rs. 2,000 crore for just Rs.50 lakh. The ED claims bogus rentals, sham advertisements and undervaluation were used to take control of AJL, publisher of the National Herald.
(With inputs from PTI)
