Indian Opposition Congress Holds Nationwide Protest Against Federal Agency Over Gandhi Case
12:49 GMT 13.06.2022 (Updated: 11:42 GMT 10.12.2022)
© AP Photo / Manish Swarup
Subscribe
India’s economic intelligence and law enforcement agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), issued summons to Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on 1 June to appear before the agency in connection with a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper.
India’s main opposition party Congress on Monday held a nationwide protest against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as the party's former president Rahul Gandhi reached the agency’s office for questioning in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper.
The protest started in Delhi, with hundreds of Congress workers marching from the party’s headquarters towards the federal agency’s office and raised slogans in support of Gandhi.
Several top politicians and hundreds of party workers participating in the march were detained by Delhi police.
Congress general secretary and parliamentarian Randeep Singh Surjewala, party spokesperson Pawan Khera, and president of the youth wing of the party B.V. Srinivas were among those detained.
.@INCJammuKashmir President Shri @GAMIR_INC, as well as other senior leaders, have been arrested for protesting against the vindictive politics of the BJP. #IndiaWithRahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/JJqKMoDV8f
— Congress (@INCIndia) June 13, 2022
Earlier in the day, several party members were detained ahead of the march.
Before reaching the ED's office, Gandhi reached the party’s headquarters and held a brief meeting with senior party politicians. He was accompanied by his sister and the party’s general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Rajasthan state chief Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh state chief Bhupesh Baghel, former state chief of Madhya Pradesh Digvijaya Singh, parliamentarian and ex-federal minister P. Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, and several others were present at the party's head office.
सच्चाई की आंधी है,
— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) June 13, 2022
सावरकर नही ये राहुल गांधी है..#IndiaWithRahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/QFC8j7ZqkZ
Congress Parliamentarian Meets Senior Politicians Ahead of Reaching ED Office
© Photo : Twitter/@nsui
ईडी द्वारा @RahulGandhi जी को बुलाएं जाने के खिलाफ @INCBihar द्वारा प्रदेश अध्यक्ष @DrMadanMohanJha जी के नेतृत्व मे विस्कोमान गोलंबर पर जमा होकर ईडी कार्यालय में प्रदर्शन ।#IndiaWithRahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/arLe4S8AC8
— Bihar Congress (@INCBihar) June 13, 2022
गांधीवादी सोच को सत्याग्रह के रूप में आगे ले जाने के लिए आज फिर से श्री @RahulGandhi जी के साथ हम सब क्रांति के पथ पर हैं।
— Rajani Patil (@rajanipatil_in) June 13, 2022
हमारी गिरफ्तारी कर भाजपा सत्य को दबाने की नाकाम कोशिश में है लेकिन प्रजातंत्र में सत्य की आवाज बुलंद थी और सदैव बुलंद रहेगी।#IndiaWithRahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/E2eoNnHC9a
MPCC protest led by PCC President Shri @meghachandra_k, MLA, against ED's summon on Shri @RahulGandhi at ED office in Imphal#IndiaWithRahulGandhi https://t.co/NF7vGbSUJa
— INC Manipur (@INCManipur) June 13, 2022
Last night, Delhi police refused permission for the protest, citing the "communal and law and order situation" and VVIP movements. Congress leaders urged them to reconsider the decision, but to no avail.
The party, however, decided to go ahead with the protest planned in Delhi and several other cities.
National Herald Case
The National Herald case dates back to 2012. Then-Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy filed a case in a trial court alleging financial irregularities by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi, and others during the acquisition of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by the Gandhi family-owned Young Indian Pvt Limited (YIL) in 2010.
AJL published the National Herald newspaper, founded by India’s first Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi’s great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru.
YIL was set up in November 2010 and Rahul Gandhi was the director of the company. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi held the majority stake (76 percent) in the firm while the remaining 24 percent stake was in the name of late Congress politicians Motilal Vohra and Oscar Fernandes.
Apart from the Gandhis, Vohra and Fernandes, journalist Suman Dubey, technocrat Sam Pitroda, and former Haryana state chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda were also named in the case.
Involvement of the Gandhis in the Case
In his complaint in 2012, Swamy alleged that the Gandhis and other Congress politicians who were stakeholders in YIL were involved in cheating and breach of trust in the acquisition of AJL, as an interest-free loan of INR 900 million ($11,527,965) was given to AJL by Congress to revive National Herald from party funds.
The BJP leader also alleged that the loan was illegal since it was taken from party funds.
Under the Income Tax Act of India, no political party can have financial transactions with a third party.
He alleged that assets of AJL worth millions of rupees had been transferred to the Congress-backed YIL in a malicious manner to gain profit, as only INR 5 million ($64,045) was paid to YIL to obtain the rights of the newspaper to recover the interest-free loan of INR 900 million ($11,527,965).
In 2014, Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha summoned all the accused in the case, including the Gandhis. In August of that year, the ED started probing the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). However, the agency closed the case a year later, citing technical reasons.
Swamy then wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticising the then-ED Director Rajan Kotoch. In August 2015, Katoch was removed and the probe agency reopened the case in September 2015.
In 2016, the Supreme Court of India granted an exemption to all the accused in the case from appearing in court, but didn’t quash the proceedings against them.
In 2017, the Delhi High Court allowed the Income Tax Department to investigate the alleged misappropriation of funds in the case, and in 2018, the federal government instructed AJL to evict the Herald House premises.
The ED attached a property worth INR 649.3 million ($ 8,311,715) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency claimed that the property had been illegally allotted to AJL.
In 2020, the Gandhis were again taken to court in Delhi after Swamy filed a case accusing them of misappropriating the National Herald’s properties.
In April 2022, the ED questioned senior Congress parliamentarian Mallikarjun Kharge in connection with the case as part of the investigation.
On 1 June, the ED again summoned interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case.
