From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Days after recording Congress president Sonia Gandhi and leader Rahul Gandhi’s statements in connection with the National Herald case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out search operations at Herald House, the newspaper’s headquarters in the national capital.
The case came under spotlight in 2013 on BJP MP Dr Subramanian Swamy filing a complaint on illegal takeover the assets of the Associated Journals Ltd owning the newspaper by Young Indian Limited, a company floated by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes. The probe began on the Income Tax Department took note of the complaint.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi’s questioning by the ED did not go down well with the Congress and its workers with several party leaders protesting against the alleged misuse of central agencies, including the ED. Congress leaders across the nation held protest marches and to protest against the ED’s questioning of Rahul Gandhi, and later of party chief Sonia Gandhi, in the National Herald newspaper-linked money laundering case.
The National Herald newspaper was founded by Jawaharlal Nehru and other freedom fighters in 1938. It was published by the AJL, which was also started by Nehru. The AJL had over 5,000 freedom fighters as its shareholders. According to media reports, it was an unlisted public company that began with a capital of Rs 5 lakh.