National Herald Case : Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have got a big relief from Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court. The court clearly said that cognizance cannot be taken of the charge sheet of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at this stage. According to the court, the entire ED case is based on the private complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy and the magistrate’s summoning orders, and not on any FIR. On this basis the court refused to take cognizance of the charge sheet.
However, the court also made it clear that ED can continue further investigation in this case. The court also said that Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and other accused are not entitled to get a copy of the FIR. This comment was made during the proceedings related to the new FIR registered by the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police.
National Herald Case In its charge sheet, the ED had accused a total of five individuals and two companies, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, on money laundering charges. The Congress party had described this entire action as motivated by political vendetta. At the same time, ED says that money laundering and fraud are serious crimes and important evidence has come to light in the investigation.
Regarding the court’s decision, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi termed it important. He said the case was baseless from the beginning, with neither transfer of money nor transaction of any property. In such a situation the question of money laundering does not arise. According to Singhvi, this decision of the court proves that National Herald Case was taken to a higher level unnecessarily.
