
National Herald case based on flawed premise, Sonia Gandhi challenges ED's money laundering charges
Sonia Gandhi
, through her counsel
Abhishek Manu Singhvi
, on Friday strongly contested the
Enforcement Directorate
's (ED) allegations in the
National Herald case
, calling it "truly a strange" and "unprecedented" matter devoid of the essential elements of a
money laundering
offence.
Singhvi began his rebuttal in court after Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the ED, concluded his arguments on July 3 regarding the cognisance of the chargesheet filed in the case.
"This is truly a strange case. More than strange. Unprecedented. This is an alleged case of money laundering, without any property, without use or projection of property," Singhvi submitted, questioning the very foundation of the ED's prosecution.
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The ED has accused Sonia Gandhi, Congress MP
Rahul Gandhi
, the late party veterans Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, as well as Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and the not-for-profit company
Young Indian
, of conspiracy and money laundering in connection with the alleged fraudulent acquisition of over ₹2,000 crore worth of assets belonging to
Associated Journals Limited
(AJL), the publisher of the National Herald newspaper.
The agency claims that the Gandhis held a majority 76% stake in Young Indian, which allegedly usurped AJL's properties in exchange for a ₹90 crore loan.
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Singhvi, however, argued that the restructuring exercise was aimed solely at making AJL debt-free.
"Every company is entitled under law and does, every day, make their companies get free by a variety of instruments. So you take away the debt and assign it to another entity. So this company becomes debt free," Singhvi explained.
He also highlighted that Young Indian was incorporated as a not-for-profit entity.
"Means it cannot give dividends, it cannot give perks, it cannot give salaries, it cannot give those bonuses. It can give nothing," he argued.
Taking aim at the ED's delayed action, Singhvi said the agency chose to act only after a private complaint was filed, despite the case being several years old.
"They are, obviously people associated with the Congress. To have the National Herald in a body not associated with the Congress would be worse than having Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark," he remarked, invoking Shakespeare to underline the political nature of the case.
Singhvi also contended that the present court did not have jurisdiction to try the case, listing multiple legal grounds to that effect.
Earlier, on July 3, ASG Raju argued that the Gandhis were the 'beneficial owners' of Young Indian and came to exercise complete control over the company following the deaths of other shareholders.
The ED has filed a chargesheet under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (
PMLA
), naming Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, along with Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Private Limited.
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