Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul on Wednesday were summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with a money laundering case relating to the National Herald newspaper, which was closed by the central agency in 2015.
The case belongs to the alleged financial irregularities in the Young Indian Pvt Limited that owns the National Herald newspaper. Officials said that they want to record Sonia and Rahul’s statements under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Sonia has been asked to appear before the agency on June 8. Congress, meanwhile, has criticised the central government but said that the party president will appear before the ED on June 8.
Rahul, however, is abroad currently, and the party has said that he “may seek a fresh date”.
“Started the National Herald newspaper in 1942, at that time the British tried to suppress it, today Modi government is also doing the same and ED is being used for this. ED has given notice to our president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Recently, senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal were also questioned by the ED in connection with the case. Later, the grand old party slammed the Centre and accused it of harassing its leaders, saying the governments wants to insult Dalit leaders and divert attention from “real issues”.
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had countered the Congress and alleged that the party misused funds along with the Young Indian Pvt Ltd, which paid only Rs 50 lakh to recover from a Rs 90.25 crore loss that Associate Journals Ltd owed to the Congress.
BJP MP Subramanian Swamy had also filed a complaint with a Delhi court in this regard. Following the court taking cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe against YIL on Swamy’s petition, the ED also registered a fresh case under PMLA.
