ED Did Nothing For 11 Years, Woke Up Suddenly: Sonia Gandhi To Court In National Herald Case

Last Updated:July 04, 2025, 16:06 IST

Congress claims ED did nothing for 11 years and suddenly acted in the Herald case. Singhvi argues the money laundering case is unprecedented, with no property movement.

Singhvi said that ED's money laundering case is truly a "strange" and it's "unprecedented". (Photo: PTI file)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) did nothing for 11 years between 2010-2021 and has now woken up suddenly, senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Friday told a court during a hearing in the Herald case

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was representing Gandhi, began his rebuttal in the court of Special CBI Judge Vishal Gogne after Additional Solicitor General S V Raju for ED on July 3 concluded his arguments on the point of cognisance of the chargesheet filed in the case.

Singhvi said that ED’s money laundering case is truly “strange" and it’s “unprecedented".

“It is alleged that this is a case of money laundering, without any money and property being moved, without any use or projection of property.

Associated Journals Limited, which published the now-defunct Herald newspaper, has had properties across India for decades, Sighvi said, adding that ownership of none of the properties has been changed.

ED alleges Gandhis held the majority 76 per cent shares in Young Indian, which fraudulently usurped assets of AJL, in exchange for a Rs 90 crore loan.

Singhvi, however, submitted that the exercise was undertaken to make AJL debt-free.

“Every company is entitled under law and does, every day, make their companies get free by a variety of instruments. So you take away the debt and assign it to another entity. So this company becomes debt free," Singhvi said.

He said that Young Indian was a not-for-profit company.

“Means it cannot give dividends, it cannot give perks, it cannot give salaries, it cannot give those bonuses. It can give nothing," the senior lawyer argued.

Singhvi said the ED did not do anything for several years and instead picked up a private complaint.

“They are, obviously people associated with the Congress. To have the Herald in a body not associated with the Congress would be worse than having Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark," he said.

Singhvi continued by mentioning the grounds on which the present court did not have the jurisdiction to try the case.

The ED has accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes aside from Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and a private company Young Indian of conspiracy and money laundering over the fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which published Herald newspaper.

On July 3, Raju argued on the point of chargesheet’s cognisance, saying the Gandhis were the “beneficial owners" of Young Indian and acquired its total control after the death of other shareholders.

The ED filed its chargesheet against the Gandhis and others under Sections 3 (money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The chargesheet also names Dudey, Pitroda, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Private Limited.

(With PTI inputs)

News politics ED Did Nothing For 11 Years, Woke Up Suddenly: Sonia Gandhi To Court In Herald Case