Sonia, Rahul Gandhi sought control of ₹2,000 crore in National Herald case: ED
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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged in court that Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi conspired to gain control of assets worth ₹2,000 crore by taking over Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company behind the historic National Herald newspaper.
During a hearing in a Delhi court on Wednesday, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the ED, accused the Congress leadership of using a loan arrangement to improperly acquire the publishing firm.
Raju stated that Congress provided AJL with an interest-free loan of ₹90 crore but in return, received consideration worth only ₹50 lakh. This debt was later converted into equity for Young Indian, a not-for-profit company in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi together hold a 76% stake.
“A company by the name of AJL…was not making profit but it had assets worth Rs 2,000 crores,” Raju told the court, according to The Indian Express. “How come they didn’t have 90 crores to repay the loan? Any prudent person would’ve sold their assets to repay the loans.”
The ED maintains that this arrangement was part of a deliberate scheme involving “fake transactions” aimed at transferring control of AJL to Young Indian. The agency alleged that multiple Congress leaders were involved in these actions, and that the loan was a cover for a larger attempt to seize AJL’s valuable assets.
Raju said, “The conspiracy was the creation of Young India to siphon away Rs 2,000 crore in exchange for a 90 crore loan. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi wanted to take over this company.”
The ED filed its chargesheet in the matter on April 9, after already seizing assets worth ₹661 crore linked to AJL across Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow as part of its ongoing money laundering probe.
The case originated in 2012 after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint alleging that the Gandhis had established Young Indian to acquire control over the debt-ridden AJL, which had suspended publication in 2008 due to outstanding debts of over ₹90 crore.
According to Swamy, Young Indian paid only ₹50 lakh to gain the rights to recover ₹90.2 crore that AJL owed the Congress party.
The Congress has rejected the allegations, claiming there was no financial wrongdoing and no exchange of money. Party leaders assert that the debt was merely converted into equity to settle dues, including salaries for AJL employees.
