The Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed a Delhi court on Wednesday that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his mother, former party president Sonia Gandhi, allegedly benefited from proceeds of crime amounting to approximately ₹142 crore in connection with the National Herald case.
Appearing on behalf of the ED, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju stated that the accused individuals were "enjoying the proceeds of crime" until as recently as November 2023. At that time, the ED had attached assets worth ₹751.9 crore linked to the National Herald, according to reports.
Zoheb Hossain, the special counsel for the ED, elaborated on the definition of proceeds of crime. He told the court that such proceeds are not limited to assets acquired directly through a scheduled offence but also extend to any property or gain resulting from other criminal activities related to those initial assets.
Hossain further told the court that cognisance of the predicate offence had already been taken. He alleged that Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Suman Dubey, and Sam Pitroda had committed criminal breach of trust. He pointed out that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi together owned a 76 per cent stake in Young Indian, the company at the centre of the case.
According to the ED, Young Indian acquired control over ₹90.25 crore by paying only ₹50 lakh to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that owns the National Herald newspaper. The agency maintained that this financial arrangement amounted to a clear case of money laundering.
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The ED asserted that a prima facie case of money laundering had been established against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others involved in the case. It further argued that the alleged offence did not conclude with the initial acquisition of the proceeds of crime; the accused continued to commit money laundering by retaining and benefitting from those assets over time.
During the proceedings, the court also directed the ED to provide a copy of its chargesheet to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. It was Swamy who originally filed the private complaint that led to the initiation of the current investigation by the ED.
This hearing comes more than two weeks after Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court examined Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others in connection with the National Herald money laundering case. At that earlier hearing, the court noted that deficiencies in the chargesheet had been resolved. The issue under consideration now is whether proceedings under Section 223 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which deals with joint trial of multiple accused, should be initiated.
The ED began its investigation into the matter in 2021 after the magistrate court took cognisance of Subramanian Swamy’s complaint filed on June 26, 2014.
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