ED files charge sheet against Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi in National Herald case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed the prosecution complaint against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Sam Pitroda in the National Herald case, according to CNN-News 18.

The prosecution complaint is the equivalent of charge sheet in ED’s cases.

The prosecution complaint has also listed Suman Dubey and others.

The court has listed the matter to be heard on April 25.

In the National Herald case, the Gandhis and others are accused of fraudulently acquiring the National Herald’s parent company Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) along with all of its assets, including prized real estate in Delhi and elsewhere, via Young Indian Ltd (YIL) in 2011.

In 2010, Congress leaders incorporated YIL where Sonia and Rahul had 38 per cent ownership each and fellow party leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes held 24 per cent ownership each. By that time, the AJL had been granted around Rs 90 crore in loans by Congress for the functioning of National Herald — the newspaper was started by Congress stalwart and former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

More from India

ED issues second summons to Robert Vadra in Haryana land deal probe ‘No one can set their eyes on India’s land’: Amit Shah on Yunus’ Northeast remark | Full text of interview at Rising Bharat 2025

The Congress party assigned this debt of Rs 90 crore owed to it by AJL to YIL. For the transfer of the debt, the YIL paid merely Rs 50 lakh to Congress.

Then, nearly 99 per cent of AJL’s shares were transferred to YIL in lieu of Rs 90 crore in debt. However, the YIL acquired this debt from Congress for mere Rs 50 lakh.

This meant that the YIL, owned majorly by Gandhis in personal capacity, acquired AJL for mere Rs 50 lakh.

While the nature of such transaction itself has been questioned, the real estate owned by AJL in prime areas of Delhi, Lucknow, Bhopal, Mumbai, Indore, Patna, Panchkula, and elsewhere, estimated to be valued to the tune of around Rs 5,000 crore, is at the heart of the matter, according to The Hindu.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

'New dawn': PM Modi meets Manipur violence victims in first visit since 2023 unrest

CP Radhakrishnan takes oath as Vice President of India

It has been alleged that Gandhis via YIL acquired such prized real estate fraudulently with just Rs 50 lakh.

In 2014, a Delhi court said while hearing the matter that it appeared that the YIL “was in fact created as a sham or a cloak” to acquire AJL’s assets worth thousands of crores, according to The Indian Express.