A Delhi court refused to take cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheet in a money laundering case against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and five others in the ‘National Herald’ case. The Enforcement Directorate said it would file an appeal against the court order.
Special Judge Vishal Gogane said that the chargesheet filed in the case is based on the investigation conducted on the complaint of a private person and not on the FIR related to any original crime. He said that taking cognizance of this is not acceptable under the law. Reading out the main part of the order, the judge said that the Economic Offenses Wing of Delhi Police has already registered an FIR in this case, hence it would be premature to consider the arguments of the Enforcement Directorate on merits.
The Enforcement Directorate has accused Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, late party leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, besides Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and a private company ‘Young Indian’ of criminal conspiracy and money laundering.
It is alleged that he acquired assets of ‘Associated Journals Limited’ (AJL) worth approximately Rs 2,000 crore. This company publishes ‘National Herald’ newspaper. The probe agency has also alleged that the Gandhi family owned 76 per cent stake in ‘Young Indian’, which allegedly fraudulently took over the properties of AJL in exchange for a loan of Rs 90 crore.