The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on July 21 in connection with the National Herald case. Sonia Gandhi was given four weeks’ time which ends on July 22.
In June, the ED had accepted Sonia Gandhi’s written request seeking deferment of summons. Sonia had written to the probe agency seeking postponement of her appearance by a few weeks till she recovers completely from Covid-19 and a lung infection.
The Congress president was discharged from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi on June 18. She was admitted to hospital with Covid complications on June 12.
Earlier, Sonia Gandhi was asked to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case. She was asked to appear before the agency on June 8, but after she tested positive for Covid-19 on June 1, she sought time from the ED.
The National Herald matter came to the fore when former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy filed a case in the Delhi High Court accusing Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of land grabbing and misappropriating funds worth thousands of crores of Rupees.
He alleged that the Gandhis had acquired a public limited company — AJL — through a privately held firm — Young India Limited — of which Rahul Gandhi was the director.
Many shareholders of the AJL, including former law minister Shanti Bhushan and former chief justice of Allahabad and Madras High Courts Markandey Katju, said they were not served any notice when YIL acquired control over it. They said that the shares held by their fathers were transferred to AJL in 2010 without their consent.
Subramanian Swamy in his complaint alleged that YIL “took over” the assets of AJL, including the National Herald, in a “malicious” manner to gain profit and acquire assets worth over Rs 2,000 crore.
Swamy also alleged that YIL had paid just Rs 50 lakh to obtain the rights to recover Rs 90.25 crore that AJL owed the Congress party. The loan was taken by AJL to start the newspaper. Swamy also alleged that the loan itself was illegal, as it had been disbursed from party funds.
The ED probe in the case began in 2014. It started the investigations to verify the allegations of money laundering.
