By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, June 14:
Even as the swords have been crossed between the Congress and BJP over the action by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was quizzed by the ED in connection with the National Herald illegal assets transfer case, on Monday .
While Rahul Gandhi will be questioned again by ED on Tuesday, the agency has summoned the Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi for questioning on June 23.
Protests were staged by Congress workers across the country in which over 450 Congress leaders and workers were detained. They included Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, P Chidambaram, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K C Venugopal. Chowdhury, Venugopal, and Chidambaram were stated to have suffered injuries when the police allegedly shoved them inside a police bus in Delhi. A video to substantiate this claim was also circulated by Congress later.
In Maharashtra, protest demonstrations were held in front of ED offices in Mumbai and Nagpur. In Mumbai, State Congress President Nana Patole, Ministers-Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan, Mumbai Congress President Bhai Jagtap, and others marched from CSMT to the ED office at Ballard Pier in South Mumbai. In Nagpur, the Ministers Dr. Nitin Raut and Vijay Wadettiwar, MLA Vikas Thakre, and MLC Abhijit Wanjarri were detained by police when they tried to force their entry into the ED office.
The Congress leaders said that the Gandhi family is being victimized by implicating them in false cases, despite utmost sacrifice in the freedom struggle by the Gandhi family. This “injustice” will not be tolerated. Ultimately we will win the legal battle, Nana Patole said.
However, the BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in a news conference in Mumbai, said that the Congress was playing a victim card despite the Nehru family being involved in the transfer of assets worth Rs 2000 crore contributed by over 5000 freedom fighters to set up the “National Herald” during the freedom movement. The inquiry is being held by the ED as per the judgment of the court given in 2019 in which the court had pointed out irregularities in the transfer of assets.
The Associated Journal Limited (AJL) was set up by Jawaharlal Nehru along with other freedom fighters in 1937 to have own mouthpiece the “National Herald” during the freedom struggle. They had contributed nearly Rs 2000 crore and all of them were shareholders of the AJL. AJL also published two other newspapers-Qaumi Awaz in Urdu and Navjeevan in Hindi until 2008
In 2010 the AJL had 1,057 shareholders. In the same year, Rahul Gandhi floated a company-”Young Indian” with an authorized share capital of Rs. 500,000 and paid-up capital of Rs. 500,000. The company was founded with 76 percent shares held by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. The remaining 24% shares were held by Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes. The company was stated to have no commercial operations.
The National Herald Case
In 2008, the AJL closed down the National Herald with Rs 90 crore liabilities and Rs 2000 crore property. The Congress party lent Rs 90 crore to AJL to pay off its liabilities, The Congress party failed to recover the loan of Rs 90 crore from AJL. Then Congress transferred the loan of Rs 90 crore recoverable from AJL to Young Indian at a discounted rate of Rs 50 lakh.
Then Young Indian paid Rs 50 lakh to the Congress and the Congress wrote off the balance of Rs 89.50 crore and closed the loan account of Rs 90 crore. The Young Indian negotiated with AJL and agreed to accept repayment of dues of Rs 90 crore in the form of shares. As such the AJL transferred its holdings to Young Indian in 2011. By share allotment by AJL, Young Indian owned 99 percent of AJL, effectively becoming the owner of Rs 2000 crore property by paying just Rs 50 lakh to AJL.
In 2012, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint before a trial court in Delhi alleging that some Congress leaders were involved in cheating and breach of trust in the acquisition of AJL by Young Indian. He alleged that Young Indian had taken over the assets of the National Herald maliciously.
In 2014, the ED initiated a probe to see if there was any money laundering in the case. On September 18, 2015, it was reported that the ED had reopened its investigation into the National Herald case. In the meanwhile on January 21, 2016, AJL decided to re-launch National Herald, Qaumi Awaz, and Navjeevan.
Allegations by AJL shareholders
Many shareholders, including former law minister Shanti Bhushan and former chief justice of Allahabad and Madras High Courts Markandey Katju, alleged that they were not served any notice when Young Indian “took over” AJL and that the shares held by their fathers were transferred to AJL in 2010 without their consent.
Those named in the case
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, journalist Suman Dubey, and technocrat Sam Pitroda have been named in Swamy’s National Herald case.
Timeline
November 2012: Subramanian Swamy files criminal complaint alleging land grab by Gandhis, June 2014: Magistrate summons all accused and says prima facie evidence was against them, August 2014: The ED launches a probe to see if there was any money laundering in the case, September 2015: The ED reopens the investigation, December 2015: Patiala House court grants bail to Sonia, Rahul Gandhi, February 2016: The Supreme Court refuses to quash proceedings against accused.
April 2019: In a relief to Gandhis, the Supreme Court on April 5,2019 stays the Delhi High Court order of February 28 which ordered vacation of ‘Herald House’ in Delhi housing the National Herald office. May 2020: A portion of a nine-story building located at Bandra in North West Mumbai, valued at Rs 16.38 crore, attached by the ED in connection with its money-laundering probe against the AJL.
Feb 2021: BJP MP Subramanian Swamy moves the Delhi High Court against a trial court order declining his plea to lead evidence to prosecute Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, and others.
March 31, 2022: The Delhi Bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal allows an appeal filed by the directors of Young Indian, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, against the Income Tax assessment of the properties of AJL.
April 2022: Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge reaches the ED headquarters to record his statement in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case about a land deal. April 2022: The ED records the statement of senior Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal in a case involving AJL and Young Indian. June 2022: ED summons Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for questioning in National Herald Case.
