The Enforcement Directorate has filed a charge sheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. In the charge sheet, both leaders have been nominated as accused number and number 2. News agency ANI said that the Central Investigation Agency has filed prosecution complaint against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Congress Overseas Chief Sam Pitroda in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court in the alleged National Herald Money Laundering case.
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Suman Dubey and others are also named in the charge sheet. The court has set the hearing of cognition arguments for April 25, under Section 44 and 45 of the Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 and 45, prosecution complaint has been filed for the offense of money refinement, as defined under section 3, read with section 70, and is punished under Section 4 of PMLA, 2002.
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What is the National Herald Money Laundering case?
The ED started its investigation in the National Herald case when Subramanian Swamy lodged a complaint in 2014, in which Sonia, Rahul Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders were accused of grabbing AJL properties for just Rs 50 lakh. The price of these properties is more than Rs 2,000 crore. Both Sonia and Rahul were questioned in 2022 as part of the investigation. The National Herald is published by Associated Journal Limited (AJL), owned by Young Indian Private Limited. Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have a 38 percent stake in Young Indian, making them its majority shareholder. Sonia and Rahul are the majority shareholders of Young Indian, who is under the scrutiny of the ED on the allegations of AJL and its assets for Rs 50 lakhs in lieu of alleged loans given by the Congress.
