ED files chargesheet against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday filed a charge sheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in a money laundering case related to the National Herald case.

Special judge Vishal Gogne examined the chargesheet, which was filed on April 9, on the point of cognisance and posted the matter for further proceedings on April 25.

The chargesheet also names Congress leader Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as accused persons.

"The present prosecution complaint shall next be taken up for consideration on the aspect of cognisance before this court on April 25, 2025 when the special counsel for the ED and IO shall also ensure the production of the case diaries for perusal by the court," the judge said.

ED on Saturday had served notices to take possession of immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore that it had attached as part of a money laundering probe linked to Congress-controlled National Herald newspaper and the Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

The ED investigation in National Herald case began in 2021 after the Metropolitan Magistrate at Patiala House Courts in Delhi took cognisance of a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on June 26, 2014.

The complaint, the ED said, highlighted a "criminal conspiracy" by several prominent political figures, including the first family of the Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi, her MP son Rahul Gandhi, apart from late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes and also Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and a private company Young Indian for alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme related to the fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the AJL.

AJL is the publisher of the National Herald news platform (newspaper and web portal), and it is owned by Young Indian Private Limited.

Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are majority shareholders of Young Indian with 38 per cent shares held by each of them. They were questioned for hours by the ED in this case, a few years back.

The ED claimed its investigation has "conclusively" found that Young Indian, a private company "beneficially owned" by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, "acquired" AJL properties worth Rs 2,000 crore for a mere Rs 50 lakh, significantly undervaluing its worth.