National Herald case: What the ED chargesheet says about Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi

It all began back in 2014 when the Patiala House Court magistrate in Delhi took cognisance of a private complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. This triggered an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2021, which has now named Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as the primary accused in its chargesheet in the National Herald case.

Apart from the Gandhis, the April 9 ED chargesheet also names Congress party associates Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda, two firms ‘Young Indian Pvt Ltd’ and ‘Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd’, and Sunil Bhandari of Dotex Merchandise, agencies reported.

During the probe, the accused challenged the order before the Delhi High Court and then the Supreme Court—both refusing to interfere with the process, according to sources.

The chargesheet was filed in line with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 under “commission of the offence of money laundering”, among other sections.

According to the ED, Congress leaders allegedly carried out a “criminal conspiracy” to “usurp” properties worth ₹2,000 crore of its public company Associated Journals Limited (AJL). This was done by transferring 99 per cent shares of AJL for just ₹50 lakh to the private company ‘Young Indian’, where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were the majority shareholders, the ED alleged.

Associated Journals Limited (AJL) is the publisher of the National Herald news platform, owned by Young Indian Pvt Ltd.

The ED named Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi as accused no 1 and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi as accused no 2 in the prosecution complaint filed under multiple PMLA sections before the court of special judge Vishal Gogne, which will now hear the matter on April 25. The ED has also doubled down on the charge, seeking punishment under Section 4 of the PMLA, which means the jail term can go up to seven years, if found guilty.

The probe agency so far noted ₹988 crore as proceeds of the crime, with the current market value of the linked assets crossing ₹5,000 crore, agencies reported attributing sources.

The ED on Saturday stated that it served notices to take possession of immovable assets worth ₹661 crore attached as part of this probe. The agency is said to have found merit in an Income Tax department assessment order from December 2017 where the “principal officers” of AJL, Young Indian and “key office-bearers” of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) allegedly carried out a “criminal conspiracy” to “usurp” properties worth ₹2,000 crore of AJL by transferring 99 per cent shares in favour of Young Indian for a paltry ₹50 lakh, where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi hold 38 per cent shares each—making them the majority shareholders of the company, agencies reported.

The accused is said to have “entered into a criminal conspiracy and converted the outstanding loan of ₹90.21 crore given by AICC to AJL into ₹9.02 crore equity shares and transferred all these shares in favour of Young Indian for only ₹50 lakh,” PTI reported citing the ED. The Congress repeatedly claimed that Young Indian was a ”not for profit” or charitable company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, the ED is said to have dismissed it stating that there were no such expenses towards the firm’s declared charitable activities during the many years of its existence.

India