The Delhi High Court on Monday asked Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with several others, to respond to a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate challenging a trial court order in the National Herald money laundering case.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja issued notices to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, Dotex Merchandise Private Limited and Sunil Bhandari, directing them to file their responses by March 12, when the matter will be heard next.
The ED has moved the high court seeking a stay on the trial court’s decision, which refused to take cognisance of its chargesheet. The trial court had rejected the chargesheet on legal grounds, saying it could not proceed because there was no first information report, as the case was based on a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
Appearing for the ED, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the trial court had gone “horribly wrong” in its interpretation of the law. He argued that the ruling could have serious consequences for other cases as well.
Defending the agency’s chargesheet, Mehta said the Prevention of Money Laundering Act does not specify how a complaint should be registered. He told the court that a criminal complaint carries more weight than an FIR. According to him, ED officers conduct an investigation, collect evidence and then file a prosecution complaint, similar to how the police submit a report after an investigation.
Mehta also pointed out that the trial court had already taken cognisance of the private complaint in the case and that this step had been upheld by higher courts. He said the trial court should not have dismissed the ED’s case at this stage.
Senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and R S Cheema represented Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Singhvi opposed the ED’s arguments but said he would accept the notice and submit a detailed reply. “I want to say something. I am only saying that there is a perspective which is contrary to what my friend is saying,” Singhvi told the court.
The Gandhis and the other accused are alleged to have acquired properties worth around two thousand crore rupees belonging to Associated Journals Limited, which publishes the National Herald newspaper. The ED has claimed that the Gandhis held a 76 per cent stake in Young Indian, which it alleges took over the assets of Associated Journals in exchange for a loan of ninety crore rupees.
In its petition, the ED said such serious allegations could not be dismissed simply by relying on legal precedents. It argued that the trial court wrongly held that a money laundering case under the PMLA must be based only on a scheduled offence registered through an FIR or a complaint by an authorised agency, and not on a private complaint.
