New Delhi, July 5 In the National Herald money laundering case, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi told a Special Delhi Court on Saturday that the All India Congress Committee’s attempts to revive the pre-Independence newspaper were misconstrued as a bid to sell its assets.
Appearing before Special Judge Vishal Gogne, Senior advocate R.S. Cheema, representing the LoP, slammed the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) ‘squinted version’ which accused the AICC of looking for profit from the sale of the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) – the company which owns the newspaper.
Cheema said that the AICC never intended to sell the assets of AJL but aimed to revive the media outlet of the freedom struggle vintage.
LoP Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer also questioned why the ED had not presented before the court a Memorandum of Association (MoA) of AJL, which said that the policy of AJL will be the policy of the Congress.
Highlighting the non-profit objectives of the company, Cheema said that the newspaper was never a commercial institution.
The AICC just wanted to bring AJL back on the rails, he said.
The ED alleged the Gandhis held a majority 76 per cent share in the private company Young Indian, which fraudulently usurped Rs 2,000 crore assets of the now-defunct newspaper by paying a nominal price of Rs 50 lakh.
On Friday, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, described the ED case against her as “really strange” and “unprecedented.” He questioned the allegations of money laundering, claiming that no tangible assets were involved.
The ED on Thursday concluded its oral arguments before the Rouse Avenue Court as to why cognisance should be taken on a prosecution complaint filed against Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, LoP Rahul Gandhi, and other accused in the alleged National Herald money laundering case.
After Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, representing the ED, finished his oral submissions, Special Judge Vishal Gogne ordered the filing of submissions by the proposed accused, including the Gandhis, Congress Overseas Chief Sam Pitroda, and Suman Dubey.
ASG Raju argued that Young Indian Ltd -- in which Sonia and LoP Rahul Gandhi are majority stakeholders – was used for usurping around Rs 2,000 crore assets of the now-defunct newspaper by paying a nominal price of Rs 50 lakh.
Further, the ED claimed that the shareholding in Young Indian is just in name, and all the other accused are puppets of the Gandhi family.
The controversy over its assets came into focus in 2012 when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint in a trial court, alleging that Congress leaders had engaged in cheating and breach of trust in the process of acquiring AJL.
In the course of the investigation, the ED found that Young Indian, beneficially owned by the Gandhis, effectively took control of AJL's properties while undervaluing their market worth.
In November 2023, the ED attached immovable properties valued at Rs 661 crore and AJL shares worth Rs 90.2 crore, terming them suspected proceeds of crime.
--IANS
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