Rahul and Sonia Gandhi Respond to National Herald Case in Delhi High Court
Rahul and Sonia Gandhi filed a response in the Delhi High Court, challenging the EDs actions in the National Herald case.
New Delhi, September 22 (Daily Kiran) : Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have submitted their response to the Delhi High Court regarding the ongoing National Herald case. They have challenged the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) petition, describing it as a misuse of legal processes.
In their filing, the Gandhis asserted that no provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) recognize a “private complaint” as a basis for ED action. They contended that Dr. Subramanian Swamy’s complaint from 2013 does not legally justify the initiation of a money laundering investigation.
The response highlighted that the ED’s internal notes from 2014 to 2021, along with a technical circular from 2015 and the agency’s own submissions to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), indicate that the ED itself acknowledged the necessity of a First Information Report (FIR) before proceeding with any investigation.
Additionally, the Gandhis raised concerns about the timing of the ED’s actions, noting that the agency challenged a trial court’s order within 24 hours, a move typically requiring internal approvals for such cases.
They argued that pursuing prosecution under the PMLA would create a contradictory situation, where the ED would need to assume jurisdiction over scheduled offenses without a meaningful investigation, which contradicts the Act’s intended framework.
The Gandhi family emphasized that the ED has consistently maintained that it cannot initiate money laundering proceedings against a company without an FIR, and that no cognizance can be taken under the PMLA in the absence of one. They claimed that the agency has ignored established legal principles for unclear reasons in this case.
In the National Herald matter, the ED has alleged that the Gandhi family, along with other Congress officials, conspired to misappropriate assets worth ₹2,000 crores belonging to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald newspaper, which is a public unlisted company.
