Rahul Gandhi, Mother Sonia Charged With Criminal Conspiracy In National Herald Case

Senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have been charged with criminal conspiracy in the National Herald money laundering case. The charges are part of a fresh First Information Report (FIR) filed against six people, including the Gandhis by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police.

Accused In FIR

The FIR also names Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, Sunil Bhandari and an unknown individual, along with three companies - Associated Journals Limited (AJL), Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Private Limited. It alleges a criminal conspiracy to "fraudulently take over the Associated Journals Limited (AJL)", the parent company of the now-defunct National Herald newspaper.

Dotex Merchandise, an alleged Kolkata-based shell company, provided Rs 1 crore to Young Indian, a not-for-profit company in which the two Congress leaders held 76 per cent shareholding. It is alleged that through this transaction, Young Indian paid Rs 50 lakh to the Congress and gained control of AJL, which had assets worth approximately Rs 2,000 crore.

The FIR, dated October 3, is based on a complaint from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has shared its investigation report with the Delhi Police.

Under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED can ask any agency to register and probe a scheduled offence.

The FIR surfaced a day after the Delhi court deferred the pronouncement of its decision in the National Herald case to December 16.

BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla charged at the Congress party calling it 'I Need Corruption' and 'I Need Chori'. "The first family of the Congress is the most corrupt family. They practise corruption and think it is their right. Whenever there is any kind of action, they start playing victim card ," said Poonawalla. 

National Herald Case

The National Herald Case dates back to 2012 when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a case in a local court, alleging Congress leaders of being involved in cheating and breach of trust in the acquisition of the Associated Journals Limited, which published the National Herald, a newspaper founded by Jawaharlal Nehru and other freedom fighters in 1938.

The National Herald went out of print in 2008 due to financial constraints. At that time, the parent company had an unpaid debt of Rs 90 crore. In order to help AJL tide over the crisis, the Congress party gave a loan of Rs 90 crore to it over a period of 10 years in about 100 instalments.

But, according to the Congress, neither National Herald nor AJL could repay the loan, hence, it was converted into equity shares. Since the party cannot own equity shares, they were allotted to Young Indian, a not-for-profit company incorporated in 2010, the Congress said.

The Gandhis own 38 per cent shares each in the company and the remaining shares are held by Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey.

And that is how Young Indian became the majority shareholder of AJL, with two Gandhi leaders as its directors.

Probe Agency ED's Financial Findings

The ED claims that the overall proceeds of crime exceed Rs 5,000 crore, of which Rs 2,000 crore represent the value of AJL's assets. The probe agency has already attached Rs 661 crore worth of immovable properties and Rs 90.2 crore worth of AJL shares.

The agency's findings build upon a 2017 Income Tax order that detected over Rs 414 crore in alleged tax evasion linked to the transfer of AJL's assets to Young Indian.

ED says its money trail examination found:

• Rs 18.12 crore in fake donations raised to pay YI's tax liabilities
• Rs 38 crore in fake "advance rent"
• Rs 29 crore in non-genuine advertisements

The investigation also alleges involvement of political leaders, including DK Shivakumar and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, in facilitating donations to Young Indian. Shivakumar purportedly contributed Rs 25 lakh personally and Rs 2 crore through a trust, while Reddy allegedly persuaded several individuals to donate around Rs 80 lakh.

Many advertisers reportedly told ED they placed ads-mostly congratulatory messages for senior Congress leaders-at the insistence of party leaders, not for business purposes.