Congress to hold presser on ED summoning Sonia & Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case

Congress will hold press conferences across the country tomorrow, June 12, on the issue of summoning party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case. The ED had issued a fresh summon to Sonia Gandhi on Friday, asking her to appear on June 23 for questioning in connection with the money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper.

The summon was issued after the Congress president sought three weeks' time from the agency, citing her COVID-19 diagnosis.  Meanwhile, her son and former Congress President, Rahul Gandhi, will be appearing before the agency in the same case on June 13. 

As per sources, Congress is preparing for a major show of strength on June 13, during which all the MPs and CWC members will march to the ED office. The party is also planning to stage 'satyagraha' outside ED offices in all the states to protest the summons. The same was decided in a virtual meeting of Congress general secretaries and state in-charges, said sources.

Congress claims that the charges against the Gandhis are "fake and baseless", and that the summons is a part of a "vendetta politics." 

The National Herald case

The National Herald case pertains to the probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Pvt Ltd, which owns the National Herald newspaper. The paper is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

The questioning of the Gandhis is a part of the ED's investigation to understand the shareholding pattern, financial transactions, and role of the promoters of Young Indian and AJL. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the promoters and shareholders of the company.

They were booked by the ED under the criminal provisions of the PMLA after a trial court took cognizance of an Income Tax Department probe against Young Indian Pvt Ltd on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Swamy had accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, 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 Associate Journals Ltd owed to the Congress. On 19 December 2015, the Gandhi mother-son duo got bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs.50,000 each and a surety after the court ruled out apprehension that they will flee the country.

(With agency inputs)