National Herald Case: Delhi Court Defers Order on ED Chargesheet to Dec 16
DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday, postponed its order on whether to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) chargesheet in the high-profile National Herald case. Special Judge Vishal Gogne announced that the decision will now be delivered on December 16.
The ED’s chargesheet accuses senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with the late Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, and associates Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda, of criminal conspiracy and money laundering. A private firm, Young Indian, has also been named.
According to the agency, the accused were involved in acquiring properties worth around ₹2,000 crore that belonged to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald. Investigators allege that Young Indian, of which the Gandhis reportedly held a 76% majority stake, took over AJL’s assets through what the ED describes as a “fraudulent” arrangement tied to a ₹90-crore loan.
The chargesheet lists Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Pitroda, Dubey, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Pvt. Ltd. as accused in the case.
During an earlier hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for the ED, requested the court to direct all accused persons to file their responses. This was opposed by Senior Advocate Pramod Dubey, representing Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd, who argued that such a step was premature.