No cognisance is not clean chit, Gandhis are 'very much' accused in National Herald case: BJP

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) The BJP on Tuesday said the court's refusal to take cognisance of a complaint against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others in the National Herald case is not a "clean chit" to them.

The primary criminal case, which originated from a private complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy, alleging cheating, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust, "the predicate offence", is still pending trial in the Delhi Court, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.

A Delhi court on Tuesday refused to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's money laundering charge against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and five others, holding that the agency's probe stemmed from a private complaint and not an FIR.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne said an investigation and the consequent prosecution complaint (equivalent to chargesheet) pertaining to the offence of money laundering is “not maintainable” in the absence of an FIR for the offence mentioned in the schedule to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Latching on to the court’s order, the Congress hit out at the Modi government, alleging that its "illegality" and "politically motivated prosecution stand fully exposed".

In a statement, the main opposition party claimed that the ED's proceedings against Congress leadership in the case have been found to be "completely illegal and mala fide" by the court.

Hitting back, Bhatia said, "No cognisance is not a clean chit, law doesn’t run on hashtags." "Dismissal is procedural, not on merit. There is no finding in favour of the accused. The court has not examined innocence, legality of transactions, or absence of proceeds of crime,” the BJP spokesperson, who is also a senior Supreme Court lawyer, said in a post on X.

Bhatia said the court has not "exonerated" the Gandhis and other accused in the case.

"The dismissal does not rule on the merits of the ED's allegations regarding money laundering or the fraudulent takeover of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) assets," he contended.

The BJP spokesperson further pointed out that the primary criminal case, which originated from a filed by Swamy, alleging cheating, criminal conspiracy, and breach of trust, the predicate offense, is still pending trial in the Delhi Court.

Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have been granted bail in the case, not acquitted, he said.

"Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were summoned in that original case and are out on bail. The court has not acquitted them in this case," he said.

Another BJP national spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, echoed Bhatia and said the Gandhis are "very much" accused in the case, and no relief has been given to them "in any manner".

The court’s order is not a setback for the ED, he asserted.

"On October 3, 2025, the economic offence wing (EoW) of the Delhi Police has already filed an FIR against the Gandhis. This was the requirement of the law and ED pursued that," Poonawalla argued, adding, "The EoW FIR strengthens the ED's PMLA case by establishing a formal predicate offence." Meanwhile, an official source said on Tuesday that the ED will file a fresh charge sheet against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, apart from others, as it has taken cognisance of the latest Delhi Police FIR filed in the National Herald money laundering case. PTI PK RT RT