National Herald case: Court to pronounce order on ED chargesheet cognisance on Jul 29

New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI) A Delhi court on Monday reserved its order on taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald case.

Special judge Vishal Gogne said, "The submissions on the aspect of cognisance stand concluded on behalf of all parties. The matter shall be listed for orders on July 29." He directed the ED to "ensure the presence of the investigating officer (IO) for inspection of the case files, if required, between July 15 and 17." The order read, "In view of the extensive submissions made by the respective counsels for the proposed accused with reference to case law and the documents on record, it is directed that the proposed accused shall file a brief synopsis of their submissions, not exceeding three-four pages by July 19." On July 12, additional solicitor general S V Raju completed his rejoinder following which the counsel of some of the accused persons finished their closing submissions on Monday.

The court was hearing the submissions on the point of cognisance by the ED and the proposed accused on a day-to-day basis from July 2 onward.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, as well as Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and a private company, Young Indian, of conspiracy and money laundering over the fraudulent takeover of Rs 2,000 crore worth properties belonging to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which published the National Herald newspaper.

ED alleges that Gandhis held the majority 76 per cent shares in Young Indian, which fraudulently usurped the assets of AJL in exchange for a Rs 90 crore loan.

The chargesheet names Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian and Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd. PTI MNR MNR AMK AMK