Listen To This Post
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday asked Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others to respond to a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging a trial court order refusinghargesheet in the National Herald case.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja issued notice to the Gandhis and other accused on both the ED’s main petition and its application seeking a stay on the December 16 order of the trial court. The High Court has listed the matter for further hearing on March 12, 2026. Appearing for the ED, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the trial court erred in declining cognisance. Senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and R S Cheema represented Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Trial Court’s Rationale
In its December 16 order, the trial court had held that taking cognisance of the ED’s prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was “impermissible in law” as the case was not founded on a First Information Report (FIR) for a scheduled offence. The court observed that an investigation and prosecution for money laundering cannot proceed in the absence of an FIR relating to a predicate offence listed under the PMLA.
The trial court further noted that since cognisance was liable to be declined on a pure question of law, it was unnecessary to examine the merits of the allegations at that stage. It also pointed out that despite a complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in 2014 and a summoning order, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) did not register an FIR for the alleged scheduled offence.
Allegations in the Case
The ED has accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, along with Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and a private company Young Indian, of conspiracy and money laundering.
According to the agency, properties worth around Rs 2,000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Limited (AJL)—the publisher of the National Herald newspaper—were allegedly acquired through fraudulent means. The ED has claimed that Young Indian, in which the Gandhis together hold a 76 per cent stake, “usurped” AJL’s assets in exchange for a loan of Rs 90 crore. With the High Court now seized of the matter, the legal battle over the National Herald case is set to continue into the next year.
