The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others on charges of money laundering in the National Herald case. The chargesheet, filed on April 9, names Congress leaders Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as accused persons. The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald news platform. The ED alleges that Young Indian, a private company "beneficially owned" by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, "acquired" AJL properties for a mere Rs 50 lakh, significantly undervaluing its worth. The case has been transferred to Special Judge Vishal Gogne's court for further proceedings.
The case was registered recently to probe alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian that owns the National Herald newspaper.
'They are totally disconnected with farm activities which their families have been involved in for years.'
The probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper.
Gandhi, 75, was earlier asked to depose on June 8 but she sought a fresh date from the federal probe agency after she contracted the coronavirus infection.
The opposition party is set to stage protests across the country against the questioning of its chief and has slammed the agency's action against its top leadership as "political vendetta".
The party plans to take out a march to the ED office on APJ Abdul Kalam Road in a show of support for Gandhi when he appears before the agency.
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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday raided a dozen locations including the head office of the Congress party-owned National Herald newspaper in New Delhi as part of an ongoing money laundering probe, officials said.
Parts of Delhi witnessed traffic jams on Monday as the traffic police closed off several roads ahead of the Congress's protest against the Centre's Agnipath scheme and "vendetta politics" in targeting Rahul Gandhi.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to depose before it on July 21 for questioning in the National Herald newspaper-linked money-laundering case, officials said on Monday.
The 75-year-old Congress president, who was supposed to depose before the agency on Thursday, wrote a letter seeking more time on the grounds that the doctors had 'strictly advised her to rest at home following her hospitalisation on account of Covid and lung infection'.
As Congress president Sonia Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), party MPs and Congress Working Committee (CWC) members 'courted mass arrest' outside the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday in a show of collective solidarity with her.
The authority said in its order that it believes that the movable assets and equity shares that were attached by the ED are proceeds of crime and linked to the offence of money laundering.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has tested positive for COVID-19 and she has isolated herself under medical advice, party chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Thursday.
Senior criminal lawyers explain the minutiae of the National Herald case in an effort to help sort out the legal intricacies of the case for the layman.
The Congress alleged that the money-laundering law has been weaponised to target and humiliate people, and urged the Supreme Court to decide soon on the matter concerning the National Herald-Associated Journals Limited case.
Initially, she was summoned by the agency on Monday but it was deferred by a day.
A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against the newspaper's publisher Associated Journals Ltd and its holding company Young Indian, the central probe agency said in a statement.
The Congress is gearing up to demonstrate a political show of strength on Monday when the party leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection in connection with a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper.
Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Randeep Surjewala said party president Sonia Gandhi has been summoned by the ED for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper on June 8, and she was determined to appear before the agency as she has nothing to hide.
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He has not been issued fresh summons and it is understood that his questioning has ended, at least for now.
Already facing severe criticism over its poor show in the elections and now fighting for the Leader of Opposition's post in Lok Sabha, the Gandhis, the first family of Indian politics, is now facing new battles with the BJP in the form of notices being served to the family in the National Herald case. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports on the growing confrontations between the government and the shaken up family.
Dr Aarti Ullal lists remedies to help you improve the quality of your sleep.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday accused the government of vindictiveness in the wake of an income tax notice in the National Herald case, asserting that such "political witch hunting will only help us come back".
The court has now posted the matter for further hearing on May 15.
The fourth day of questioning was deferred from June 17 to this day after Gandhi requested the agency for postponing the session as he wanted to be with his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in hospital, where she is admitted for post-Covid issues.
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The respondents were from over 22 states with 85 percent of them being under 35 years while 61 percent were interns or postgraduate trainees.
'This move rendered the chiefs of important investigative agencies to the status of daily wage earners. It undermined the autonomy and independence of the agencies.'
Anand Sharma said weaponisation of laws and their use to target and humiliate people should not happen.
The apex court has been holding hearings through video conferencing since March 25 due to the COVID-19-induced nationwide lockdown and even after the restrictions were relaxed; it has decided to continue with the practice.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will consider the pleas of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that their appeals against the Delhi high court verdict, refusing to quash summons issued to them in the National Herald case, be heard on Friday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned for over 10 hours by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper and was called to depose again on Tuesday, as his party protested across the country, alleging that the Centre was targeting the Opposition by misusing agencies.
Screen time, referring to the time children spend watching television or playing computer games, was found to impact the development of executive functions of brain such as working memory, planning and responding flexibly to changing situations.
Serious AESI, which included stroke and Guillain-Barre syndrome, were reported in one per cent of individuals, the study, which looked at long-term safety of the BBV152 vaccine in adolescents and adults, claimed.
While agency sources informed that Gandhi recorded his statement and checked its transcript minutely, Congress leaders said the investigators took multiple breaks during his questioning
There is no association between the Covid-19 vaccines used in India -- Covishield and Covaxin -- and increase in the risk of heart attacks, according to an observational study which emphasises the protective effect of the jabs.
