The relief to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the long-standing National Herald case, when a Delhi court refused to take cognisance of the money laundering chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate against the Congress leaders, has highlighted the premier investigating agency’s poor record in Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases. It has also reinforced the charge levelled by the Opposition that the ED acts at the behest of the BJP government.
The Congress was quick to claim victory and accuse the government of vendetta politics. A political slanging match began with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation and the BJP asserting that the Congress was misleading the nation as the case is still pending. The court maintained that the complaint filed by the ED under the PMLA could not be entertained as it was based on a private complaint and not a First Information Report (FIR).
The National Herald case can be traced back to 2013 when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint before a Delhi court alleging that the Gandhis had wrongfully acquired control of the newspaper’s assets worth thousands of crores. The Gandhis had cheated shareholders of the Associated Journals Limited, the company that owns National Herald, as well as the Congress party, he claimed.
The Associated Journals Limited was incorporated in Lucknow in 1937 to disseminate the Congress point of view. However, by the turn of the century, it was struggling to stay afloat. Then the Congress party stepped in and extended loans of Rs 90 crore. Even so, National Herald stopped publication in 2008. A nonprofit company called Young Indian was floated in 2019, and the Gandhis became its directors. Swamy alleged that Young Indian had defrauded the publisher and the party by acquiring the debt and converting it into shares.
However, there was no serious investigation into the complaint till the ED took up the money laundering probe. In 2022, the ED questioned Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for several days and, finally, filed a chargesheet in April 2025. There were nationwide protests by the Congress against the alleged targeting of the Gandhis.
The National Herald case that is raked up from time to time is like a Damocles sword hanging over the Gandhis. No doubt, the ED will appeal against the Delhi court’s verdict, but for the time being the moral victory is that of the Congress. The party has accused the ED and other agencies of acting like the ‘private army’ of the BJP government at the Centre. The Congress also received strong backing from the DMK. The National Herald saga is far from over, and it remains to be seen what twists and turns lie ahead.
