BIG Relief For Gandhis In National Herald Case As Delhi Court Refuses To Take Cognisance Of ED's Complaint Against Sonia & Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: In a major relief for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, a Delhi court on Tuesday (December 16) refused to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's complaint in the National Herald money laundering case against the Congress leaders. The ED's complaint was dismissed by Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Court.

Notably, the complaint by the federal agency was under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court said that the complaint was not maintainable as the case was based on a private complaint and not a First Information Report (FIR), reported Bar & Bench.

The court, however, clarified that at this stage, the law does not mandate furnishing a copy of the FIR to the accused, even as it permitted intimation about the registration of the case. It allowed further probe into the matter.

"An investigation and the consequent prosecution complaint pertaining to the offence of money laundering defined under Section 3 and punishable under Section 4 is not maintainable in the absence of a FIR or the offence mentioned in the Schedule to the Act," the Court ruled, as quoted by the media house.

Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian and Detox Merchandise were also made accused in the case by the ED.

Last month, the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) filed a new FIR in the case. The FIR included six names, in addition to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. It was registered after the ED headquarters filed a complaint with the EOW.

The chargesheet named several senior Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others, under the PMLA. The ED has alleged financial irregularities involving Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the original publisher of the National Herald.

The probe agency alleged that Young Indian allegedly involved in the fraudulent takeover of the properties of AJL – publishers of National Herald.

The complaint in the case was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy. He alleged that the Gandhis and other senior Congress leaders had fraudulently taken over AJL. In his complaint Swamy had claimed that the Congress leaders had taken over the properties for a mere Rs 50 lakh.

The Gandhis are alleged to be the majority shareholders in Young Indian.

Congress Leaders' Reaction:

Reacting to the development, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that it was a "hollow and bizarre case."

"I myself fought this crucial case; this is a very important decision. It was a hollow case that was taken to such a high level, and today not even cognisance has been taken of it...We had said that this is such a bizarre case, with no transfer of money, no property moved, so where is the money laundering?... It means that this is a completely baseless case," Singhvi told reporters.

Another Congress MP, Pramod Tiwari, said, "Satyamev Jayate. Today's Modi's lies have been defeated."