A Delhi court on Saturday deferred its order on taking cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) chargesheet in the National Herald case, pushing the pronouncement to December 16.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne postponed the decision on the chargesheet, in which the ED has accused Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, late leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, journalist Suman Dubey, technocrat Sam Pitroda, and the company Young Indian of conspiracy and money laundering.
According to the ED, the accused allegedly acquired properties worth around ₹2,000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Limited (AJL) — the publisher of the National Herald — through Young Indian. The investigation agency claims the Gandhis held 76% of Young Indian’s shares, enabling them to “fraudulently” take over AJL’s assets in exchange for a ₹90 crore loan.
The chargesheet names Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd.
The court’s order on whether it will formally take cognisance of the charges will now be announced on December 16.
