Cong leaders no strangers to ED summons; party questions BJP's intentions

New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) As the Opposition parties target the BJP-led central government for misusing the probe agencies against its political opponents, the Congress too has been on the radar of the ED.At the centre of the party's Enforcement Directorate (ED) troubles is the National Herald case against its ex-presidents -- Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who are being probed for alleged money laundering, centred around the defunct party newspaper.

Besides the National Herald newspaper case, Rahul Gandhi is also facing many criminal cases in several courts of the country.

He was convicted by a Surat court for his 2019 'Modi surname' remark on March 23 this year and was sentenced to two years in jail, following which he was disqualified as a MP a day later. He also had to vacate his official bungalow in the national capital.

On Friday, the Gujarat High Court dismissed Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking a stay on his conviction in the 'Modi surname' defamation case.

In its order it also mentioned that there are 10 criminal cases pending against him and even after the present case, some more cases have been filed against the leader. One such case has been filed by the grandson of Veer Savarkar, said the High Court while announcing the order.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has filed a case of money laundering against the Congress leaders for alleged money laundering two years ago after a trial court in Delhi took cognizance of an Income Tax Department probe based on a complaint filed by former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Following the registration of the case, the ED last year for the first time questioned Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, who are the majority shareholders in Young Indian Private Limited (YIL).

In June last year, the ED questioned Rahul Gandhi for over 54 hours spread across five days and his mother and former party chief Sonia Gandhi for over 13 hours in three days in July last year in connection with the case.

However, even a year after questioning the members of the Gandhi family, the ED is still probing the case and asking for several sets of documents from the Congress leaders.

After completing their questioning, the ED also questioned Congress leaders D.K. Shivakumar, his brother and party MP D.K. Suresh and several others on several occasions. Even party treasurer Pawan Bansal was questioned by the ED in April last year.

On August 3 last year, the ED had partially sealed the office of the YIL on the ground floor. However, a day later the seal was removed after Mallikarjun Kharge appeared before the agency for questioning during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The ED removed the seal from the office of YIL in the presence of Kharge.

Kharge is also the principal officer of YIL while the Herald House is also the registered office of AJL and YIL.

The National Herald was started by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and was published by the Associated Journal Limited (AJL). In 2010, AJL was taken over by a newly-floated company called YIL with Rahul Gandhi as one of its directors and Gandhi family loyalists Suman Dubey and technocrat Sam Pitroda as directors.

Swamy claimed that Young Indian Limited “took over” the assets of the defunct print media outlet in a “malicious” manner to gain profit and assets worth over Rs 2,000 crores. The BJP leader also alleged that YIL had paid Rs 50 lakh to obtain the rights to recover Rs 90.25 crore which AJL owed the Congress party.

In 2014, the ED initiated a probe to see if there was any money laundering involved in the case. It is pertinent to note that in 2020, the ED had attached one of the prime properties in Mumbai’s Bandra under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The property, with a market value of hundreds of crores of rupees, was illegally allotted to AJL.

All seven accused in the case -- veteran Congress leader Motilal Vora, AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, YI and the Gandhis -- have denied the accusations against them.

Till date, the Congress has been accusing the BJP of misusing the central agencies and indulging in vendetta politics against the Congress leaders.

The Congress has also been targeting the government over the issue and has been accusing it of trying to suppress the voice of its political opponents.

Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by the Sakshi Post team and is auto-generated from syndicated feed.