'If We Find Evidence...': ED May Name Congress As Accused In National Herald Case
The Enforcement Directorate may accuse Congress in the National Herald money laundering case if enough evidence is found. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are alleged conspirators.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it can make the Congress party accused in the money laundering case linked to the now-defunct National Herald newspaper if the probe agency gets adequate evidence.
Additional Solicitor General V Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), made the submission before a special court in Delhi that began daily hearings in the case.
'I have not made the AICC an accused, but it does not deprive me of my right to make them an accused in the future. If we find adequate evidence, we can make them an accused as well," ASG Raju said.
The ED told the court that Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her son, and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, were behind the conspiracy to usurp Rs 2,000 crore assets of the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which used to publish the National Herald newspaper.
The AJL used to publish the National Herald newspaper, founded by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Raju said that a conspiracy was hatched to form Young Indian, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi held 76% shares, to siphon away Rs 2,000 crore assets for a Rs 90 crore loan taken from Congress.
The ED said that even advertisement money was paid to the AJL on the instructions of senior Congress leaders. Whatever income that was generated from this fraudulent incorporation is the proceeds of crime, it added.
During the previous hearing on May 21, the ED said that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have enjoyed Rs 142 crore of 'proceeds of crime" linked to the alleged National Herald money laundering case.
The anti-money laundering agency filed a prosecution complaint against senior Congress leaders, including the Gandhis, in the National Herald case. Others named in the charge sheet include Congress Overseas Chief Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others.
The charge sheet valued the alleged proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 988 crore. It is alleged that the Congress leadership had misappropriated property belonging to the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the original publisher of the National Herald, by converting public trusts into personal assets.
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