New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday declined to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s money-laundering case against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi
and Rahul Gandhi, along with five others, in the National Herald matter. The court, however, allowed the central agency to continue its investigation. The court observed that the ED's probe is based on a private complaint and not on any FIR. Furthermore, the court also ruled that at this stage Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other accused are not entitled to a copy of the FIR, allowing further probe into the matter. Notably, the case was filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. The Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) registered an FIR against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with others, following a complaint by the Enforcement Directorate as part of its money-laundering probe into the National Herald case. Reacting to the FIR, the Congress accused the BJP of pursuing a “politics of harassment, intimidation and vendetta” against its top leadership. The party alleged that the “Modi-Shah duo” was misusing investigative agencies and maintained that the National Herald case was “completely bogus,” asserting that justice would ultimately prevail. Rejecting the allegations, senior BJP leader and former Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad described the Congress’s claims as “baseless.” He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not in office when the private complaint was filed, noting that the matter dates back to 2008. “Congress is levelling false and baseless allegations. We vehemently condemn it and request them to give an account of the loot they committee instead of giving speeches… Let the law take its course,” Prasad said. He further added, “The country should know that in the FIR filed by Delhi Police, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been charged under section 120 (B) for criminal conspiracy and Section 420. The case has been filed under the old penal code because the case is old.”
