The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and several others in the on-going National Herald case for money laundering violations.
The ED filed the chargesheet on April 9 before Special Judge Vishal Gogne, who has listed the case for further hearing on April 25.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi figures as accused number one in the agency's prosecution complaint, while her son and now Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, figures as accused number two.
The charges, filed under several provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), include Sections 3 (money laundering), 44, 45 and 70—latter being corporate liability, making the office-bearers of the holding company liable for offenses made by the firm.
Others listed in the chargesheet are Congress aides Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda, and the firms Young Indian and Dotex Merchandise Private Limited. Sunil Bhandari, a Dotex associate, has also been accused.
As per the ED, almost 99% of shares in Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) were sold to Young Indian, a private firm, for a mere ₹50 lakh. Young Indian's shareholding, the agency charges, was overwhelmingly in the Gandhis' favor—Sonia and Rahul each owned 38%, and the remaining 24% belonged to the late Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, who the ED has characterized as "close associates" of the family.
The ED alleges that the accused implemented a conspiracy whereby an overdue ₹90.21 crore loan, already granted by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to AJL, was transformed into equity of value ₹9.02 crore. The equity was subsequently transferred to Young Indian at a fraction of its worth, supposedly conferring de facto ownership of AJL's huge real estate assets to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Though Young Indian was registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, reserved for non-profit organizations—a fact reiterated time and again by Congress—the ED insists that the company undertook no charitable activities. Agency sources claim that accounts did not reflect any expenditure towards social welfare throughout its working life.
The chargesheet also refers to a 2017 assessment order by the Income Tax, which alleged that Young Indian evaded more than ₹414 crore in taxes by its "illegal acquisition" of AJL's assets.
The probe by the ED dates back to 2021, following a criminal complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. The case gained legal momentum when a Delhi court took cognisance of it in June 2014.
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