National Herald: ED May Summon Sonia, Rahul, Naya Swapki Kharge Again: The Enforcement Directorate may summon former Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. Earlier, ED questioned Rahul for five rounds and Sonia for one round. According to investigators, the ED has received information about suspicious transactions from the account of Young India, a mouthpiece of the Congress. But they haven’t said anything officially yet.
Sources in the Central Investigation Agency said that transactions worth Rs 4-5 crore were made in the name of fake companies. ED has recorded statements of owners, shareholders, and directors of those bogus companies.
Apart from Sonia and Rahul, Young India’s directors include Pawan Bansal and Mallikarjun Kharge. ED will also summon them. Another director Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez are dead. But most shares are in the name of Sonia, Rahul. The newspaper was published by Associated Journals Limited (ALJ). The ED raided Young India’s Delhi office in August in this case. Kharge was present during the search.
What is the National Herald?
The National Herald is the now-defunct English mouthpiece of the National Congress. Apart from this, Congress published a Hindi newspaper called Navjivan and an Urdu newspaper called Qaumi Awaaz. All three papers were published by Associate Journal Limited.
National Herald and Nehru
The National Herald started its journey in 1938. The main entrepreneur was Jawaharlal Nehru. About five thousand freedom fighters joined hands with him. Associated Journal Limited was created with its financial donations. After independence, the National Herald became the mouthpiece of the Congress.
National Herald closes in the face of losses
The National Herald was closed in 2008. The newspaper and Associated Journal Limited have been making losses for a long time. Congress gave them a loan of 90 crore rupees in stages. In 2008, the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre. However, due to the financial crisis, the mouthpiece of the party was closed.
In 2010 Neel Young India Private Limited was born
A new company called Young India Pvt Ltd was created to free up the debt of Associated Journal Limited, the owner of the National Herald. The leaders of the organization are all Congress leaders. A total of 76 percent of shares are allocated in the name of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with 38 percent respectively. The remaining 24 percent is allotted to the names of Congress leaders Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandez, Shyam Prada, etc.
The new company takes over the National Herald’s debt of Tk 90 crore. In return, all the assets of the National Herald were transferred to Young India.
How is it transferred?
In 2012, BJP MP Subramaniam Swamy complained in a Delhi court that the Young India Congress had waived off a loan of Rs 90 crore by giving only Rs 50 lakh to the party. On the other hand, National Herald’s Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg house, which Young India has registered in their name, has a market value of around two and a half thousand rupees.
Questions raised by BJP leader through court
1. If Congress wanted to waive the Rs 90 crore due to their mouthpieces, they could have done so by adopting a resolution themselves. Why didn’t they follow that path and create a new company?
2. Sonia Gandhi was the Congress president at the time of the handover. But Rahul Gandhi was not in an important post. Why were 76 percent shares of the company allotted to Sonia and Rahul?
3. Why did the company, which has a house worth 2000 crore rupees in its name, hand over all the property to a newly created company to settle the debt of 90 crore rupees?
The husband alleged that in this way an attempt was made to grab the huge property of the party mouthpiece from the Gandhi family. In the wake of the husband’s 2012 case, the Delhi court ordered the Income Tax department to first investigate. Following their investigation report, ED was given charge of the investigation. In 2015, the court released Sonia and Rahul from appearing in court in person. The investigation continues. ED summoned Sonia and Rahul earlier this year for that investigation.
Congress statement
National Herald has nothing to do with debt relief, transfer of property, etc. financial transactions. It was a non-profit enterprise. Young India also acts as a trust. It has nothing to do with profit and loss. As a result, 76 percent of ownership is in the name of Sonia and Rahul, but they have not taken a single penny from the company and they do not own the property personally. But Subramanian Swamy’s statement, creating a new company and giving majority ownership to Sonia, Rahul is mysterious. That’s why he dropped the criminal case.
