Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who is under ED’s radar in the National Herald case claimed on Wednesday 22nd June 2022 that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials interrogating him were surprised by his stamina. However, the ED officials have refuted this claim and said that Rahul Gandhi dodged 20% of the questions saying that he was too tired to answer them.
On Wednesday, June 22, Rahul Gandhi attended a program at the All India Congress Committee headquarters. It was a meeting of lawmakers and senior leaders called from various states. Rahul Gandhi claimed that the agency officials were astounded by his stamina and resilience since he remained seated still for hours while they kept moving. Rahul Gandhi said that when the officers inquired about his secret, he attributed it to his vipassana training.
But what ED officials have revealed is in sharp contrast to the claims made by the Congress leader. According to a report by the Times of India, a source in the agency said, “The fact is that he avoided replies to almost 20% of the questions put to him by saying that he was feeling too tired.”
Gandhi has been recording his statement with the ED in multiple sessions in connection with the National Herald case. After he was questioned on June 14, it was reported by some media outfits that he was interrogated for 20 hours. However, the ED sources clarified that he was questioned for only three hours and the rest of the time was utilized by Gandhi to evaluate and proofread his responses. The responses are reviewed, corrected, and retyped before they are signed by Gandhi.
The agency sources said, “He took long to go through his own replies and it is the reviews which accounted for the longer part of the session each day.” The Wayanad MP would arrive at around 11 am at the ED office and every day he left at 11 pm. In between, he was allowed to go home for a one-hour lunch break.
The ED sources also said that it was wrong of the Congress party to publicize the claims made by the Gandhi scion about what happened during the ED interrogation, considering the fact that the party had earlier sent a legal notice to the home minister, the finance minister, and the law minister in which the party had accused ED of committing a criminal offence of leaking the details of the interrogation.
The National Herald scam is one of the most notable legal cases in Indian history, as the Gandhis are directly accused. The mother-son duo of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, along with their aides – Oscar Fernandez, Motilal Vohra and Sam Pithroda are alleged to have been involved in massive ‘cheating and breach of trust’ in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL). Assets worth crores of rupees had been allegedly transferred for purposes other than originally intended for a paltry sum. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi got unconditional bail in December 2015.
