NEW DELHI – The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday informed a Delhi court that the Indian National Congress, acting on the instructions of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, intended to “grab” the ₹2,000 crore assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald newspaper. The allegations were made as a special court in Delhi commenced daily hearings in the National Herald money laundering case, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are key accused.
Represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, the ED told the court that a conspiracy was hatched to take over AJL’s assets in exchange for a ₹90 crore loan taken from the Congress party. This alleged scheme involved the formation of a company called Young Indian, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi hold a 76% stake.
“AJL was not making profits but it had huge assets (worth ₹2,000 crore). They were finding it difficult to manage their day-to-day affairs. So, they took a loan of ₹90 crore from Congress,” ASG Raju stated. “Congress wanted to grab this company. The conspiracy was that Young Indian was created to grab ₹2,000 crore against the loan of ₹90 crore. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi wanted to take over this company,” he added.
Other individuals named in the chargesheet include Congress Overseas Chief Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey. The ED had previously claimed that the Gandhi family benefited by ₹142 crore from the alleged crimes.
Congress Party Could Be Made an Accused
Furthermore, the ED indicated that the Congress party itself could be made an accused in the case if sufficient evidence is found. “If evidence is found, ED can make AICC an accused in the future. Just because ED has not made AICC an accused, it does not mean that they have lost the right to do so,” ASG Raju asserted.
The ED also informed the court that several senior Congress leaders were involved in “sham transactions” with AJL. The agency alleged that various individuals made “bogus advance rent payments” over the years on the instructions of Congress leaders.
Additionally, the ED told the court that advertisement funds were also routed to AJL based on similar instructions from Congress leaders. The agency contended that these transactions constituted “proceeds of crime” (PoC) and that the ultimate beneficiaries were Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
The court subsequently questioned the ED whether these payment donors and Congress leaders should also be considered accused, as they might also be involved in generating the proceeds of crime. The ED responded that it was still investigating whether such individuals could be held liable.
