Rahul, Sonia Gandhi face conspiracy charges in National Herald case

Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi have been booked on charges of criminal conspiracy in a fresh FIR in connection with the National Herald money laundering case, Indian media report.

Filed by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), and registered on Oct 3, the FIR names six individuals, including the two Gandhis, along with three companies -- Associated Journals Limited (AJL), Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.

The complaint forwarded by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) states that the accused were part of a plot to “fraudulently acquire” AJL, the publisher of the now-defunct National Herald newspaper.

Dotex Merchandise, a Kolkata-based shell entity, allegedly routed Rs 10 million to Young Indian.

Investigators claim the transfer enabled Young Indian, where Rahul and Sonia together held a 76 percent stake, to pay off a Congress loan of Rs 5 million and take control of AJL, whose assets are estimated at Rs 20 billion.

The FIR was filed under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which allows the ED to direct other agencies to initiate action based on its findings.

The development comes a day after a Delhi court postponed its order in the National Herald case to Dec 16.

The BJP seized on the FIR, with spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accusing the Congress leadership of systematic corruption.

“The first family of the Congress is the most corrupt family. They practise corruption and think it is their right. Whenever there is any kind of action, they start playing the victim card,” he is quoted as saying by NDTV.

The National Herald case dates back to 2012, when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint accusing top Congress figures of criminal breach of trust and cheating in the takeover of AJL.

The National Herald, founded in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru and other freedom fighters, ceased publication in 2008 after years of financial losses.

Congress has maintained that it had extended about Rs 900 million in financial support to AJL over a decade.

When the company was unable to repay the loan, the party says the dues were converted to equity which the Congress, as a political party, could not legally hold.

The shares were instead allotted to Young Indian, a not-for-profit company set up in 2010.

Its shareholders included the Gandhis (38 percent each) and senior Congress leaders Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey.

This restructuring made Young Indian the majority stakeholder of AJL.

The ED says its investigation has traced more than Rs 50 billion in alleged proceeds of crime linked to the case, including Rs 20 billion attributed to AJL’s assets.

The agency has so far attached Rs 6.61 billion worth of immovable properties and Rs 902 billion in AJL shares.

Its financial probe claims to have uncovered:

- Rs 181.2 million in “fake donations” used to settle Young Indian’s tax liabilities

- Rs 380 million shown as fictitious “advance rent”

- Rs 290 million in non-genuine advertising revenue

The ED has also referred to alleged political involvement in facilitating donations.

Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar is said to have contributed Rs 2.5 million personally and Rs 20 million through a trust, while Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy supposedly encouraged donors to contribute around Rs 8 million to Young Indian.

Several advertisers, according to the agency, told investigators that they placed congratulatory advertisements for senior Congress leaders at the behest of party functionaries rather than for commercial reasons.