On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached properties worth over Rs 750 crore, incorporating the famous Herald House near ITO, which belongs to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald and other party mouthpieces of the Congress, in a money laundering lawsuit against party authorities Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Young Indian, which now regulates AJL.
Congress denounced the ED's act as “shameful rivalry politics in a foolish case” and dubbed BJP the “killer” of democracy.
Young Indian is registered as a charity and the maximum of it is owned by the Gandhis, the only two shareholders in the entity, and has Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress as its CEO.
The National Herald money laundering lawsuit, in which the Gandhis are the prime accused, is centred on the “takeover” of Associated Journals Ltd along with its assets assessed at Rs 750 crore by Young Indian for Rs 50 lakh.
The attached properties are situated in premium locations in Lucknow, Delhi and Mumbai and have been evaluated at over Rs 661 crore.
The ED said in a statement, “Investigation demonstrated that AJL is in the custody of proceeds of crime in the form of unbudging properties spread across many cities of India such as Mumbai, Lucknow and Delhi to the tune of Rs 661.6 crore and Young Indian is in possession to the tune of Rs 90.2 crore in the form of investment in equity shares of Associated Journals Ltd,”
The Gandhis, who are on bail in a corresponding case, have been suspected numerous times along with Kharge and others about the transactions.
They may be asked for along with other accused to document their concluding statements based on the “money trail” and the conclusions of the probe within a year as the agency is lawfully bound to file prosecution complaint (chargesheet) during the next one year that is 365 from the day of attachment of the “proceeds of crime”.
In a statement, the ED said its money laundering lawsuit about the acquisition of AJL assets by Young Indian was in pursuance of a court order.
The ED said Associated Journals Ltd, which was given land at concessional rates in different cities for publishing newspapers, began using the properties for commercial purposes after it stopped publication of National Herald and other Congress organs.
