Cong Workers Protest Outside National Herald Office in Delhi After ED Raids in Money Laundering Case
By: News Desk
Last Updated: August 02, 2022, 18:11 IST
Delhi, India
The ED conducted raids on a dozen locations, including the offices of the newspaper in Delhi, and several other premises linked to Associated Journals Limited, the company that publishes the newspaper. (File photo/AFP)
The ED conducted raids as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation, a week after it questioned Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and her MP son Rahul Gandhi
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Several Congress workers on Tuesday gathered at the Herald House in Delhi to stage a protest against the raids conducted by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in alleged connection with the National Herald newspaper-linked money laundering case. The agitated workers were seen carrying placards and raising slogans against the central government. The Herald House located in the national capital's Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg is the head office of the party-owned National Herald newspaper.
The ED conducted raids on a dozen locations, including the offices of the newspaper in Delhi, and several other premises linked to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the firm that publishes the newspaper. Officials told news agency PTI that the searches are being carried out under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to "gather additional evidence with regard to the trail of funds".
Calling it "vendetta politics", Congress said that the action was part of the continued attack on the country's principal opposition party.
Taking to Twitter, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The raids on Herald House, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg are a part of the continued attack against India's principal opposition — Indian National Congress. We strongly condemn this vendetta politics against those who speak up against the Modi Govt. You cannot silence us!"
Echoing similar sentiments, another Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge told news agency ANI, "It is a political vendetta to purposely disturb Congress and tarnish its image. As per our constitution, it is not right to intimidate the opposition parties, as a ruling party. Congress won't tolerate it."
Reacting on the same, Congress leader Karti Chidambaram said that the ED will be known as the "hatchet agency of the BJP government". "The ED was weaponised before, now after SC judgement, it is become a weapon of mass destruction. They will go overboard in raids, summons and arrests. Ridiculous that they'd raid the premises of a publication whose transactions are anyway captured in the books of accounts. This is only for sensationalism, for the voyeuristic pleasure of certain people and for the discomfort it will create to people in office and organisation. The ED will be known as the hatchet agency of this BJP government," he said.
The ED conducted raids as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation, a week after it questioned Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and her MP son Rahul Gandhi.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
On July 27, Sonia Gandhi was questioned by the ED over her role in the case. She was quizzed for more than 11 hours over three days during which she had to answer around 100 questions, the officials said. While her first round of questioning took place on July 21, the second round was on July 26.
The questioning pertains to the charge of alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper. The Congress chief is understood to have stuck to the party's position that no personal acquisition of assets was made in the AJL-Young Indian deal and that the routine affairs were handled by other office bearers, including late Motilal Vora.
The move to question the Gandhis was initiated after the ED late last year registered a fresh case under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This was after a trial court in Delhi took cognisance of an Income Tax department probe against Young Indian based on a private criminal complaint by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are among the promoters and majority shareholders in Young Indian. Like her son, the Congress president too has 38 per cent shareholding. Swamy had accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds, with Young Indian paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that the AJL owed to the Congress.
In February last year, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Gandhis seeking their response on Swamy's plea. The Congress has maintained there has been no wrongdoing and Young Indian is a "not-for-profit" company established under section 25 of the Companies Act and hence there can be no question of money laundering.
It is understood that Rahul, during his deposition before the ED, stuck to the position that there was no personal acquisition of assets by himself or his family. According to the ED, assets worth about Rs 800 crore are "owned" by the AJL and the federal agency wants to know from the Gandhis how a not-for-profit company like Young Indian was undertaking commercial activities of renting out its land and building assets.
(with inputs from PTI)
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