National Herald case: Court defers notice to Sonia, Rahul
Special judge Vishal Gogne at the Rouse Avenue court granted ED — which had submitted its complaint (the agency’s equivalent to a charge sheet) in the case on April 9 — three days’ time to rectify the documents.
A Delhi court on Friday deferred its decision to issue notice to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and others in the National Herald money laundering case, citing deficiencies in the documents submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Special judge Vishal Gogne at the Rouse Avenue court granted ED — which had submitted its complaint (the agency’s equivalent to a charge sheet) in the case on April 9 — three days’ time to rectify the documents.
“Certain deficiency with regard to documents submitted by ED have been pointed to the court by the Ahlmad (court staff) … those need to be rectified first,” the judge said. “I cannot decide on the matter further without the same being complied.”
The court posted the matter for hearing on May 2.
Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for ED, insisted the court to issue notice to the accused.
“According to law, the court should issue notice to the accused persons first before taking cognisance (of the charge sheet). We do not want to proceed clandestinely...we have a watertight case and do not want the other side (accused) to file petitions later challenging violation of any provision. We want to follow the procedure in a transparent manner,” the law officer told the court.
The judge, however, said the issue will be looked into on the next date after the deficiency in the documents are rectified.
Earlier, ED filed a charge sheet on April 9 against former Congress presidents Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in connection with its ₹988-crore money laundering probe in the National Herald case. The charge sheet, filed under sections 3 (money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), names Sonia and Rahul Gandhi as accused number 1 and 2, respectively.
Besides the Gandhis, ED has also named overseas Congress head Sam Pitroda and former journalist Suman Dubey in the charge sheet, along with the Young Indian Private Limited (YI) — a firm in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi together hold 76% stake.
ED has claimed that Gandhis are beneficial owners of YI, which acquired the assets of the National Herald’s parent company Associated Journals Limited (AJL), worth ₹2,000 crore, for a mere ₹50 lakh. The agency further claimed to have identified proceeds of crime worth ₹988 crore in the case.
The Congress has termed the charge sheet “political vendetta”.
