Sonia Gandhi Questioned Again By ED: National Herald Case Explained

For her second round of interrogation in the money-laundering case involving the National Herald newspaper case, Congress President Sonia Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 26. With Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at her side, she arrived at the Federal agency's office in Vidyut Lane, which is a side street that runs alongside the A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Road in the heart of Delhi, just before 11 a.m. Rahul Gandhi quickly left the ED office, while Priyanka Gandhi remained there.

During her first day of questioning in the case on July 21,  75-year-old Sonia Gandhi was interrogated for more than two hours and provided answers to 28 questions being asked by the Agency. The National Herald newspaper is owned by the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which is under investigation for potential financial irregularities.

Sonia Gandhi National Herald Newspaper

Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress, and Rahul Gandhi, the former leader of the party, have been called in for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case concerning money laundering involving the National Herald newspaper. Her son Rahul Gandhi has been asked to testify on June 13 while Sonia Gandhi has been asked to appear on June 8. The summoning, according to the Congress, "reeked of vendetta, pettiness, and cheap politics."

Congress spokespersons Abhishek Singhvi and Randeep Surjewala reportedly announced that the Gandhis will appear before the ED and described the situation as an odd scenario where a notice was issued in connection with an alleged money laundering case yet there was no money involved.

National Herald Case

A Delhi trial court received a private case from BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013, accusing the Gandhis and others of plotting to defraud and syphon off money from The Associated Journals Limited shareholders (the publishing company of the National Herald newspaper). He claimed that the scandal began when the Young Indian Ltd. (YIL) firm, which is supported by Congress, acquired AJL and its real estate holdings, which were worth at least 2,000 crores, were also transferred to YIL. He further alleged that the Gandhi family and other Congress figures connected to them had robbed the Congress party, as per reports.

Reportedly founded solely for the purpose of promoting business, the arts, charity, sports, or social welfare, among other things, a company incorporated under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956, which has since been replaced by Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, is a not-for-profit charitable organisation. Congressmen Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes held the remaining 24% of the shares. Notably, the two members of YIL's board of directors, Gandhi and Rahul, each possess 38 per cent of the company's shares or 76 per cent of the entire business. A totally owned subsidiary of the Young Indian eventually took over AJL.

The Gandhis were accused of using donations to give interest-free loans to AJL before writing them off for only 50 lakh, according to Subramanian Swamy. Congress will march while Rahul Gandhi is in front of the ED. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, both directors at YIL, as well as the deceased Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, directors at both AJL and YIL, were all defendants in the trial court case. Young Indian Company is the final defendant.

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First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru founded The National Herald, an English-language newspaper, along with its Public Limited publishing business The Associated Journals Limited in 1938. (AJL). AJL officially stopped printing and publishing newspapers, including the National Herald, in April 2008 as a result of losses and an inability to continue publication.

Nehru and other independence fighters were among the 5,000 shareholders of AJL at the time of its founding. The number of stockholders in the corporation has decreased to just over 1,000 by 2010. In 2016, AJL decided to revive the three publications in a digital format after nearly eight years.