According to official sources, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police lodged a complaint against the Gandhis and seven others on October 3.
The police have filed 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, which involves the Gandhis, Congress leaders Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda, as well as entities like Young Indian (YI) and Dotex Merchandise Ltd, Dotex promoter Sunil Bhandari, and Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL), along with unnamed others.
These entities, excluding the unnamed others, are also cited in the ED chargesheet submitted to a Delhi court in April. The court has yet to acknowledge this, with the next hearing set for December 16.
The Congress party previously characterized this investigation as “petty vendetta tactics” and referred to the ED as a “coalition partner” of the BJP.
Sources indicate that the ED invoked powers under section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to facilitate the registration of the police FIR. This section permits the federal agency to provide evidence for the filing of a criminal predicate offence by a law enforcement body to advance a money laundering case and continue the investigation.
The FIR is expected to bolster the ED’s case and the chargesheet, which arose from a court order by the Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi acknowledging a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on June 26, 2014, concerning alleged irregularities in National Herald’s operations, according to the sources.
The FIR has recognized the allegations put forth by the ED in a letter addressed to the EOW on September 4. The contents of this letter reportedly mirror what the central agency has articulated in its chargesheet.
In its chargesheet, the ED accused several prominent political figures, including the first family of the Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, along with late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, Dubey, Pitroda, and the private company Young Indian, of orchestrating a “criminal conspiracy” tied to a money laundering scheme related to the fraudulent acquisition of properties valued at over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to AJL.
AJL publishes the National Herald news platform (newspaper and web portal) and is owned by Young Indian Private Limited.
Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi hold the majority shares in Young Indian, each with 38 percent ownership. They were interrogated extensively by the ED in relation to this case a few years ago. The ED asserted that its investigation has “conclusively” demonstrated that Young Indian, a private entity “beneficially owned” by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, “acquired” AJL properties worth Rs 2,000 crore for just Rs 50 lakh, greatly undervaluing their true worth.
It is alleged in the chargesheet that Sonia Gandhi “abused” her position as the former AICC president for personal gain, misappropriating public funds for her and her son Rahul Gandhi’s benefit through the Young Indian (YI) company. PTI NES DV DV
.
.
