National Herald Case: 'Congress Was Aware,' ED Alleges Conspiracy To Take Over ₹2,000 Cr AJL Firm

(MENAFN- Live Mint) While hearing the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) arguments in the National Herald money laundering case, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi wanted to know more about who owns shares in Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and whether the Congress party could be considered a victim. To this, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju submitted that there was a conspiracy to siphon off the assets of AJL, a company with assets worth ₹2000 crore, and that Congress leaders were aware of this.

The ED filed a charge sheet against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, Dotex, and Sunil Bhandari. ASG Raju noted, the Congress provided a loan of Rs90.25 crore to AJL, which had no means to repay despite holding assets worth ₹2000 crores.

Raju alleged that the accused tried to take overAJL by setting up a new company called Young Indian, which was controlled by the Gandhi family. The ED said Young Indian got control of AJL for just ₹50 lakh, in return for a ₹90 crore loan given to AJL by the Congress party.

The ED further stated that the accused firm, Dotex, gave a ₹1 crore loan to Young Indian, out of which ₹50 lakh was paid to the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Consequently, Young Indian became the owner of AJL for Rs. 50 lakh.

ASG Raju argued how can a company with less than ₹5 lakh to take over another company holding assets worth ₹2,000 crore. He pointed absurdity of the transaction. Despite AJL's ₹2000 crore assets, it struggled to manage daily affairs. Raju argued that a sensible person would have sold some of those assets to clear the ₹90 crore loan, which was small in comparison to the company's total worth.

The ASG alleged that the AICC conspired to usurp AJL's assets through Young Indian, created to siphon off ₹2000 crore in exchange for the ₹90 crore loan. The Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju questioned why the All India Congress Committee (AICC) gave another loan to Associated Journals Limited (AJL) when the company was unable to repay the earlier loan, asking why a prudent person would do this.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne heard the arguments at length for nearly three hours and listed the matter for further hearing on July 3.

(With inputs from agencies)

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