After being subjected to questioning for nearly eleven hours on Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be appearing before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for over again on Tuesday dor a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper.
It is understood that Rahul wrote down his statement under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) during the first round of questioning which lasted for several hours.
Rahul reached the ED office at 11:10 am and the questioning continued well past 9 pm with officials at the time saying it would end soon.
The case pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian Limited (YIL) that owns the National Herald newspaper, which is published by YIL-owned Associated Journals Limited (AJL).
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The investigating officer of the case, an assistant director-rank officer of the ED, is understood to have put possible questions about the incorporation of the YIL, the operations of the National Herald, the loan given by the Congress party to AJL and the funds transfer within the news media establishment.
"The Congress party will fight this oppression by the Modi government," said Indian Youth Congress President Srinivas BV told PTI near the ED office.
He added, "We are not scared. The Modi government should be ashamed that they have turned central Delhi into a fortress just because our leader is going to the ED with his supporters."
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The Congress party said in a press conference on Monday morning that all funds' movement in the National Herald case was legitimate. The ED questioned senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal in April as part of the investigation.
The questioning of the senior Congress leaders and the Gandhis is part of the ED's investigation to understand the shareholding pattern, financial transactions, and role of the promoters of YIL and AJL, officials had said. The ED recently registered a fresh case under the criminal provisions of the PMLA after a trial court in Delhi took cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe against YIL on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.
The Congress party had called the ED action "vendetta". It has termed the charges "fake and baseless" and added that the summons to the Gandhis was part of the BJP's "vendetta politics".
Sonia and Rahul are among the promoters and shareholders of YIL. Swamy had accused Sonia, Rahul, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds with YIL paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that AJL owed to the Congress. The Delhi High Court in February last year issued a notice to the Gandhis for their response on Swamy's plea seeking to lead evidence in the matter before the trial court.
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The Gandhis had secured separate bails from the court in 2015 after they furnished personal bonds of Rs 50,000 and one surety. They, however, contended in the Delhi High Court that the plea by Swamy was "misconceived and premature". The other accused in this case filed by Swamy are close Gandhi aides Suman Dubey and technocrat Sam Pitroda. They have earlier denied any wrongdoing.
(With PTI Inputs)
