New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear before it again on Tuesday in connection with a money laundering case connected to the National Herald newspaper, authorities said, news agency PTI reported.
They said that questioning on Monday went on long until 9 p.m. and that it will be over shortly.
Gandhi, who arrived at the federal agency's offices in central Delhi at 11:10 a.m., was questioned approximately 20 minutes later after completing some brief legal formalities and marking his presence.
The ED permitted him to go for lunch at 2:10 p.m., and he returned for questioning around 3:30 p.m., according to authorities.
The investigation is on potential financial irregularities at the Young Indian newspaper, which is owned by the party.
The Associated Journals Limited (AJL) publishes the National Herald, which is owned by Young Indian Pvt Limited.
Meanwhile, the National Herald case dates back 10 years to 2012 when BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy filed a complaint of money laundering against Congress leaders. He also alleged that Associated Journals Ltd. was acquired by Young India Ltd in a malicious way.
He claimed that YIL “took over” the assets of the defunct print media outlet in a “malicious” manner to gain profit and assets worth over Rs 2,000 crore.
What Is AJL?
Associated Journal Ltd. or AJL was founded by Jawahar Lal Nehru and other freedom fighters in 1938. AJL published three newspapers in English, Hindi, and Urdu. while it was meant to raise the voice of liberals during the freedom struggle, National Herald became a mouthpiece of Congress after independence.
In 2008, the paper was closed down by AJL after incurring a loss of nearly Rs 90 crore. Following this, it was taken over by YIL in 2010 whose director was named Rahul Gandhi.
In 2016, the three dailies were relaunched naming the National Herald in English, Navjeevan in Hindi, and Quami Awaz in Urdu.
(With Inputs From PTI)