Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before the Enforcement Directorate for the third consecutive day today in an alleged money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. Rahul was questioned for over 11 hours Tuesday by ED despite protests from the opposition parties that accused BJP of conspiring to defame the Gandhi family through the ''false'' case.
A day earlier the 51-year-old Congress leader was was quizzed for over 10 hours at the ED headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi. He was accompanied by his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
During questioning Rahul was confronted with several documents collated by the ED as evidence recovered so far in the alleged money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper.
Accroding to ANI sources, Rahul Gandhi was questioned in detail about the ownership of Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) by the Gandhi family and its shareholding pattern in Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper.
Investigators in the ED have also asked Rahul Gandhi to describe the circumstances under which AJL was acquired by YIL in 2010, making it the owner of all assets owned by the National Herald newspaper, the sources added.
The National Herald, started by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was published by the AJL. In 2010, the AJL, which faced financial difficulties, was taken over by a newly-floated YIL with Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda as directors, both of them Gandhi loyalists.
In a complaint in the Delhi High Court, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds.
Officials familiar with the probe said Rahul Gandhi is being asked questions about the takeover of the AJL by YIL since the Gandhis have stakes in the latter.
The Congress leader is being questioned under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED is also learnt to have recorded statement of Rahul Gandhi to know about the incorporation of the YIL, the operations of the National Herald and the fund transfer within the news media establishment.
The ED is also investigating the financial transactions as well as role of party functionaries in the functioning of AJL and YIL.
National Herald is published by the AJL and owned by YIL. It is also learnt that the ED will take written statement of Rahul Gandhi statement under Section 50 of the PMLA.
Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal were earlier questioned in the case. Rahul Gandhi's mother Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the ED on June 23. She was admitted on Sunday to the Ganga Ram Hospital following post-Covid complications.
(With ANI inputs)