In the latest development in the National Herald Case, the Enforcement Directorate has temporarily sealed the National Herald office in New Delhi and instructed that the premises not be opened without prior permission. The action came a day after the ED conducted raids at 12 locations linked to Congress mouthpiece National Herald in connection with a money laundering case.
Herald House is the registered office address of Associate Journals Limited (AJL), the National Herald newspaper’s publisher, which is under probe over its acquisition by Young Indian, a firm linked to the Gandhi family.
A notice duly signed by Kuldeep Singh, the assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate has been pasted outside the National Herald office which reads that the premises cannot be opened without the prior permission of the agency.
On Tuesday, had raided 12 locations linked to National Herald and recovered a few incriminating documents in the raid. Few digital devices were also seized by the agency. As per reports, the statements of some National Herald employees were also recorded.
Moreover, the location of a Kolkata-based shell company involved in the case was also recovered amid the raids.
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 Gandhi, 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.
Recently, both the mother-son duo were questioned by Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case. While Rahul Gandhi was questioned by ED on June 13 for over 6 hours and his statement was recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi finally appeared before the agency on July 21.