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New Delhi, October 25 (IANS) A special Delhi court hearing the National Herald money laundering case on Saturday fixed October 30 to seek some clarification from the Enforcement Directorate in the case involving Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and others.
Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogane, while deferring the hearing, indicated that clarification was required from the investigating agency before any decision on taking cognizance of the prosecution complaint filed by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED had alleged in July that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi wanted to grab the assets of the Rs 2,000 crore company Associated Journals Limited (AJL), publisher of the National Herald newspaper.
In the previous hearing, the special court had sought some details from the ED on the probe agency’s move to name Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and others as proposed accused.
The Rouse Avenue court, which examined the case diary, is about to give its verdict taking cognizance of the prosecution’s complaint.
The Rouse Avenue court had reserved its order on July 14 after hearing detailed arguments by the federal anti-money laundering agency as well as the proposed accused, including the Gandhi family.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, representing the ED, had claimed that Young Indian Limited – in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are majority stakeholders – was used to grab National Herald’s assets worth about Rs 2,000 crore by paying a paltry price of Rs 50 lakh.
ASG Raju argued that the ‘Young Indians’ existed in name only, and all other accused were puppets of the Gandhi family.
According to the ED, the formation of Young Indian was a conspiracy to gain control over the vast assets of the now defunct newspaper, with the aim of personally benefiting the top Congress leadership.
The central agency said several senior Congress leaders were involved in “fraudulent transactions” made to AJL, the parent publisher of National Herald.
ASG Raju told the court that the persons had been making fake advance rent payments for many years on the instructions of senior Congress functionaries with fake rent receipts.
The ED’s prosecution complaint claims that through this alleged malicious acquisition, the Congress leadership misappropriated properties belonging to AJL and converted public trusts into personal assets.
Senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, representing Sonia Gandhi, had described the money laundering allegations as “really strange” and “unprecedented”, claiming that there was no concrete asset involved.
Furthermore, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the All India Congress Committee’s efforts to revive the pre-independence era newspaper were “misinterpreted” as a bid to sell its assets.
Highlighting the company’s non-profit objectives, senior lawyer RS Cheema, representing Rahul Gandhi, said National Herald was never a commercial institution and the AICC just wanted to bring the newspaper back on track.
The dispute over the assets of National Herald first came to light in 2012 when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint in the trial court, accusing Congress leaders of fraud and breach of trust in the acquisition of AJL.
–IANS
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