Delhi Police file FIR against Sonia, Rahul

 

 

DELHI Police have filed an FIR against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and other accused in the ‘National Herald’ case on a complaint by the ED as part of the agency’s money laundering probe into the high-profile case that alleges that the first family of the party “abused” their position for personal gains. Official sources and documents said the Economic OffencesWing (EOW) of the Delhi Police filed a complaint against the Gandhis and seven others on October 3.

 

The police has pressed charges under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC in the FIR that names the Gandhis, Congress leaders Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda, entities like theYoung Indian (YI) and Dotex Merchandise Ltd, D o t e x promoter Sunil Bhandari, Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) and unknown others. These entities are also named as an accused (except unknown others) in the ED chargesheet filed before a Delhi court in April. The court is yet to take its cognisance with the next date of hearing scheduled for December 16.

 

Slamming the move to file the FIR, Congress General Secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh charged on X, “The Modi-Shah duo is continuing with its mischievous politics of harassment, intimidation, and vendetta against the top leadership of the INC. Those who threaten are themselves insecure and afraid.” “The ‘National Herald’ matter is a completely bogus case. Justice will ultimately triumph. Satyameva Jayate,” he said. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in a post on X that the FIR was “neither wine new nor bottle new nor glasses new”. “One trick wonder of a case where no money moved, where no immovable property transferred yet money laundering invented...,” Singhvi posted.

 

The ED, according to the sources, used powers available to it under section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to get the police FIR registered. This section allows the federal agency to share evidence for registration of a criminal predicate offence by a law enforcement agency so that it can subsequently book a money laundering case to take forward the investigation. The FIR will work to strengthen the ED case and the chargesheet which stems from a court order -- Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi -- that took cognisance of a private complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on June 26, 2014 against alleged irregularities in the National Herald’s affairs, the sources said.

 

The ED told the police that its complaint furnishes “additional facts” that disclose cognisable offence which are “beyond” the scope of the complaint of Swamy and the cognisance order of the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in 2014. The FIR has taken cognisance of the allegations stated by the ED in a letter sent to the EOW on September 4. The contents of the ED communication are similar to what the central agency is understood to have stated in its chargesheet. The ED had alleged in its chargesheet that a “criminal conspiracy” was orchestrated by several prominent political figures, including the first family of the Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi, her MP son Rahul Gandhi apart from late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes and also Dubey, Pitroda and a private company Young Indian for alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme related to the fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the AJL.