Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have increased difficulties in the National Herald case. The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi has issued a notice against both of them, taking cognizance of the ED charge sheet. Special Judge Vishal Gogane said that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have the right to present their case while taking cognizance of the charge sheet. The judge said, “The right to keep the side at any level is the life of a fair hearing.” He fixed the next hearing of the case for May 8.
ED started investigating in 2021
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a charge sheet in this case. In 2021, the ED started its investigation. The complaint was reported on 26 June 2014 by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. After which a magistrate court took cognizance of the matter.
The ED said that a “criminal conspiracy” was exposed by several prominent political personalities in the complaint, including Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, his MP son Rahul Gandhi, late Congress leader Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes and other leaders and a private company “Young Indian”. All of them are accused of incorrectly acquiring properties worth more than Rs 2,000 crore related to Associated Journal Limited (AJL) and joining money laundering. Sonia and Rahul are the shareholders of Young Indian and both have 38-38 percent shares.
What is the National Herald case?
The National Herald case is a case related to money laundering and financial irregularities. The National Herald is around the newspaper and its original company Associated Journal Limited (AJL). The National Herald newspaper was launched in 1938 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, which was the Congress mouthpiece in the freedom struggle. This newspaper was published by AJL. This company also used to publish voices in Hindi in Navjivan and Urdu.
AJL went into loss, debt of 90 crores was
By 2008, AJL went into loss and had a debt of Rs 90 crore. In 2010, a company called Young India Limited (Yil) was formed, with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had a 76% stake (each 38%). The remaining stake was with Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes. It is alleged that the Congress transferred the loan of 90 crores to Yil for only Rs 50 lakh, and Yil acquired AJL’s control of properties worth about 2000 crore rupees (Prime Location land in Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai etc.).
Action on the complaint of Subramanian Swamy
In this case, the BJP filed a complaint in the Delhi court by Subramanian Swamy. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were accused of cheating and property grab. Swamy claimed that Yil acquired AJL’s properties with “wrong ways”, and the shareholders were not informed about it. Sharers like former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan and Justice Markandeya Katju also alleged that their shares were transferred to Yil without notice.
ED investigated with money laundering angle
In 2014, ED started investigating the matter from the angle of money laundering. The ED alleges that commercial use of AJL properties (such as renting the passport office at Herald House in Delhi) was illegal, as AJL was given tax exemption as a non-profit company. In 2023, ED attached AJL and Yil’s assets worth Rs 751 crore, including property from Delhi, Lucknow and Mumbai. In April 2025, the ED filed a charge sheet against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Sam Pitroda under the Money Laundering in the Rouse Avenue Court.
Congress claims
The Congress claims that Yil is a non-profit company that aims to re-establish the National Herald and save the legacy of the freedom struggle. The party says that no financial irregularity or profit was earned, and the matter is part of political vengeance. The Congress called the ED actions “politics of revenge” and said that it was a conspiracy by the BJP to target the Gandhi family.
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