Delhi court issues notice to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul in National Herald money laundering case

Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were on Friday issued notices by a Delhi court in connection with the National Herald money laundering case.

Their "right to be heard" was available at the time of cognisance of the chargesheet, said Special judge Vishal Gogne.

"Right to be heard at any stage breaths life into fair trial," the judge said, posting the matter on May 8.

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

The ED investigation began in 2021 after a metropolitan magistrate in Patiala House courts in Delhi took cognisance of a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on June 26, 2014.

The chargesheet was filed under Sections 3 (money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Following the ED chargesheet, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge slammed Narendra Modi-led government and said that it cannot be a mere coincidence that ED action came immediately after AICC session.

“All this done out of vendetta,” said Kharge while referring to ED action on Gandhis and attaching National Herald properties.

Alleging the ED was carrying out "vendetta" at the behest of its “political masters”, former Union minister P Chidambaram said the "political assault" on the integrity and reputation of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was an "abuse of power".

He alleged the facts of the case made it clear that the Enforcement Directorate (ED), at the behest of its "political masters, is carrying on a vendetta against" the opposition party leaders.

There were no proceeds of crime and, hence, there could not be a money-laundering case and, as such, the ED has no jurisdiction in it, the senior Congress leader claimed and asserted the party would "prevail over the assault".

"The entire Congress party will resist and fight back (against) this political assault on its leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Truth will prevail, justice will prevail, we will prevail," he said.