Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing has filed a fresh FIR against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, intensifying the ongoing legal and political dispute. The FIR is based on a complaint from the Enforcement Directorate concerning alleged fraudulent financial transactions.
Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing has filed a fresh FIR against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, acting on a complaint routed through the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The move, registered on October 3, deepens the long-running political and legal battle over the newspaper’s finances and the alleged takeover of its parent company.
CASE BUILT ON ED COMPLAINT
The FIR follows the ED’s complaint shared with Delhi Police under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, a provision that allows the agency to ask another authority to register a scheduled offence. Along with the two senior Congress leaders, six individuals and three companies have been named as accused.
The FIR invokes sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of movable property), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
Those named include Sam Pitroda, who heads the Indian Overseas Congress, and three companies, Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd. Dotex, a Kolkata-based firm, has been described in earlier investigations as a shell entity that transferred Rs 1 crore to Young Indian, the company in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are key stakeholders.
ALLEGATIONS AROUND AJL TAKEOVER
According to the FIR, the accused were involved in a criminal conspiracy to gain control of AJL, the company linked to the National Herald newspaper, by fraudulent means. The allegations centre on a series of financial transactions through which Young Indian is said to have acquired control of AJL by paying the Congress party Rs 50 lakh, despite AJL’s assets being valued at nearly Rs 2,000 crore.
