ED summons Gandhis in National Herald case

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her Member of Parliament son Rahul Gandhi for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper, officials said on Wednesday, a step the party claimed was in connection with a “fake and fabricated” case.

The party ruled out any fraud, alleged that the summon was a political ploy to divert attention from inflation and announced it will not bow down to the Narendra Modi-government.

The two leaders have been called in for different days, with Sonia Gandhi sought on June 8 and Rahul Gandhi on June 2, although the latter sought time till June 5.

The case relates to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian, which owns the National Herald newspaper. The agency registered a new case under the criminal provisions of the PMLA after a trial court in Delhi took cognisance of an Income Tax department investigation into Young Indian Pvt Ltd on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

News agency PTI, citing unnamed officials, said the agency wants to record the statements of the two leaders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case.

“The Modi government should know that by registering such fake and fabricated cases, they cannot succeed in their cowardly conspiracy,” said Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi who, along with party colleague Randeep Surjewala, held a press conference in connection with the summons.

They said both leaders will comply with the request, though Rahul Gandhi has written to the federal agency to postpone the questioning to after June 5 since he is not in the country.

The questioning of the senior Congress leaders and the Gandhis is part of ED’s efforts to understand the shareholding pattern, financial transactions, and role of the promoters of Young Indian and AJL, the agency officials cited by PTI added.

Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others in the party of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds after Young Indian Pvt Ltd allegedly paid only ₹50 lakh to obtain the right to recover ₹90.25 crore that Associate Journals Ltd, the publisher of National Herald, owed to the Congress.

In April, the agency questioned senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal as part of the investigation.