National Herald case: Delhi court defers order on cognisance of ED chargesheet against Sonia, Rahul Gandhi
The ED has made Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi accused in the case, which was registered by the agency on a private complaint lodged by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
New Delhi: A city court on Tuesday (July 29) deferred its order on taking cognisance of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheet in the National Herald case involving Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Special judge Vishal Gogne had earlier on July 15 reserved the order for July 29 after hearing submissions made by the Congress leaders and the central investigating agency on the point of cognisance.
The matter has been now listed for August 7 and 8 for certain clarifications, news agency PTI reported.
The ED has made Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi accused in the case, which was registered by the agency on a private complaint lodged by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
What has the ED said?
The ED, while making submissions before the court on taking cognisance of the chargesheeet, earlier argued that the fraudulent takeover of the AJL’s properties was with the connivance and consent of the accused persons, including the Gandhis.
"This is a classic case where the offence of money laundering is made against all the accused. I request you to take cognisance," Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju earlier argued while urging the court to take cognisance of the chargesheet.
What have the Gandhis argued?
The counsel representing the Gandhis have opposed the arguments of the ED to take cognisance of the chargesheet and argued before the court that the National Herald case was "truly a strange" one.
"This is truly a strange case. More than strange. Unprecedented. This is an alleged case of money laundering, without any property, without use or projection of property," senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the Gandhis, earlier argued.
What has the ED accused?
The ED has alleged that Gandhis held the majority 76 per cent shares in private company Young Indian, which fraudulently usurped the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald in exchange for a Rs 90 crore loan. The agency has named the Gandhis, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian and Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd in its chargesheet filed before the court in the alleged conspiracy and money laundering over the alleged fraudulent takeover of AJL’s properties worth Rs 2,000 crore.