National Herald case: Congress cries foul as ED attaches properties worth Rs 751.9 crore under PMLA

The ED investigation was initiated following a court order which took cognizance of a private complaint. The court held that seven accused persons prima facie committed offences of criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, dishonest misappropriation of property and criminal conspiracy.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has attached properties worth Rs 751.9 crore of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) and Young Indian (YI), which are linked to National Herald, in connection with a money laundering case, prompting the Congress to describe the "petty vendetta tactics" to "divert attention from a certain defeat" in the ongoing Assembly elections.

The agency claimed it came to light during investigations that AJL was in possession of proceeds of crime in the form of properties worth Rs 661.69 crore spread across Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow and YI was in possession of Rs 90.21 crore in the form of investment of equity shares of AJL.

The attached properties included National Herald House in Delhi, Nehru Bhavan in Lucknow and National Herald House in Mumbai, officials said.

The ED had initiated a probe following a court direction on a complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy in 2014 and held prima facie that seven accused committed offences under Indian Penal Code, including criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy, it said in a statement.

The agency had earlier questioned former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, who are linked to Young Indian, in connection with the case.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the ED action was a "clear indication of BJP's panic" and "staring at a defeat" in Assembly polls, it "feels compelled to misuse the agencies". He said the pattern of misuse of agencies during elections is "not new" and "stands fully exposed".

The Congress reacted sharply to the development with senior MP and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi saying that such "petty vendetta tactics shall not cow down the Congress or the Opposition" and such action reflects the ruling BJP's "desperation to divert attention from certain defeat in the ongoing elections".

"No BJP coalition partner—CBI, ED or IT—can prevent certain impending defeat of the BJP," he said adding, "an assignment of loan without transfer of any immovable property or movement of money is being dressed up to justify attachment and freezing of assets of a company which runs an iconic voice of Indian independence movement -- National Herald-- only because its linked to Congress and its legacy," he said.

Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said the BJP must realise that going after India’s largest Opposition party is “akin to going after Indian democracy”.

The ED said the court had held that the accused hatched a conspiracy to acquire properties of AJL, which was publishing Congress mouthpiece National Herald, through a special purpose vehicle YI. AJL, which was given land on concessional rates in various cities but closed its publishing operations in 2008 and started using the properties for commercial purposes, was to repay Rs 90.21 crore to Congress, which treated it as non-recoverable loan and sold it for Rs 50 lakh to YI.

The ED statement said its investigation revealed that after purchasing the loan of Rs 90.21 crore from the Congress, YI demanded either repayment of loan or allotment of equity shares of AJL to it.

It added, the AJL held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) and passed a resolution to increase share capital and issue fresh shares worth Rs 90.21 crore to YI. With this fresh allotment of shares, shareholding of more than 1,000 shareholders was reduced to a mere 1% and AJL became a subsidiary company of YI while taking control over properties of AJL, it said.

Venugopal posted on 'X', the ED action was based on a "completely frivolous and made up case" and is "shameful vendetta politics".

"They (BJP) are staring at a historic loss in the ongoing 5 state elections and in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. If they think they can intimidate us or tarnish our reputation in the people’s eyes, they are grossly mistaken. The BJP and its allied agencies are the murderers of Indian democracy. 1.4 billion Indians will give a befitting reply to this fascist politics of revenge and intimidation. Satyamev Jayate," he said.

The ED action can "only be consequential to some predicate or main offence. There is no transfer of any immovable property. There is no movement of money. There are no proceeds of crime. Indeed, there is no complainant who claims to have been cheated: not a single one!! This is a prefabricated structure of deceit, lies and falsehood, by and for the BJP, to divert, distract and digress in the middle of elections," Singhvi added.

Senior Congress MP and Lok Sabha Whip Manickam Tagore posted on 'X', "#PanautiModi orders ED to take away National Herald properties illegally. The frustration and the upcoming defeat in the hands of people of Madhya pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana will only be the answer to the unjustifiable action by ED."