New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) As a fresh First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police accused senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi of criminal conspiracy in the National Herald money laundering case, the party on Monday termed it as “baseless” “political vendetta”. The EOW has filed the FIR against six people, including the Gandhis.

Speaking to IANS about the fresh FIR, Congress leader Udit Raj said, “This FIR is completely false and baseless. The Herald newspaper was established in 1937 to support India’s freedom struggle, and it played a major role until Independence.

“When the newspaper was struggling financially, the Congress provided a loan of Rs 100 crore, which was used to pay salaries, allowances, and pensions of employees worth about Rs 67 crore. No land or ownership rights were transferred to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, or Sam Pitroda. Running a party-backed newspaper in this manner does not constitute any criminal act or violation of law. If land or assets had been transferred, it would have been a different matter. This is nothing but politics of pressure, fear, and intimidation.”

Congress MP Chamalal Kiran Kumar Reddy said, “The timing just before the Winter Session appears to be a repeated attempt to divert public attention. The National Herald case has already shown that there was no money laundering or financial wrongdoing, yet such actions continue. This clearly indicates a political vendetta aimed at defaming the Gandhi family.”

CPI(M) MP P. Sandosh Kumar added, “I cannot comment much, but one thing is clear — this appears to be part of political vendetta against Opposition leaders.”

Meanwhile, the FIR also names Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, Sunil Bhandari and an unknown individual, along with three companies: Associated Journals Limited (AJL), Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Private Limited. It alleges a criminal conspiracy to “fraudulently take over Associated Journals Limited (AJL)”, the parent company of the now-defunct National Herald newspaper.

Dotex Merchandise, reportedly a Kolkata-based shell company, allegedly provided Rs 1 crore to Young Indian, a not-for-profit organisation in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi held a combined 76 per cent share. It is alleged that through this transaction, Young Indian paid Rs 50 lakh to the Congress and gained control of AJL, which allegedly owned assets valued at nearly Rs 2,000 crore.

The FIR, dated October 3, is based on a complaint from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which shared its investigation findings with the Delhi Police.

The National Herald case dates back to 2012, when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint in a Delhi court accusing Congress leaders of cheating and criminal breach of trust in the acquisition of AJL, which published the National Herald — founded by Jawaharlal Nehru and other freedom fighters in 1938.

National Herald ceased publication in 2008 due to financial difficulties. At the time, AJL had unpaid debt worth Rs 90 crore. To support the organisation, the Congress provided the amount over 10 years through nearly 100 instalments.

According to the Congress, neither AJL nor the National Herald could repay the amount, leading to the loan being converted into equity. As the party cannot legally hold equity shares, they were transferred to Young Indian, incorporated in 2010 as a not-for-profit company.

Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi reportedly hold 38 per cent shares each in Young Indian, while the remaining shares are held by Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey.

–IANS

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