New Delhi [India], December 1 : Congress Rajya Sabha MP and Senior Advocate, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, on Monday called the National Herald case a "national harassment case," denying the accusations of money laundering against party leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and six others.
The National Herald case originated from a complaint filed by former MP Subramanian Swamy, alleging misuse of funds by Congress leaders and companies linked to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL).
After Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) filed a fresh FIR in the National Herald money laundering case on Sunday, Singhvi called the Enforcement Directorate (ED) "colour blind", accusing the agency of targeting the Opposition parties.
He also slammed the BJP for alleged "vendetta" against Congress.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, the Congress leader said, "This is a bizarre situation. No crime, no cash, no trail to find. The BJP still conjures a case of its own twisted mind. If justice is blind, then ED is colour blind. It only sees one colour, the opposition colour. It's a case with no money movement, no movement of immovable property, no misuse, yet the ED in its imagination, sees money laundering. If vendetta were a syllabus, the BJP would graduate with honours. From a private complaint to a public circus, the National Herald case is the BJP's recycled obsession. This is not the National Herald case; this is the National Harassment case."
Abhishek Singhvi claimed that there was no money or property transfer from the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) to Young Indian while converting AJL's debt of Rs 90 crore into equity.
He said, "We all know there are issues with the economy, foreign policy, and unemployment. If they want to shift the attention from these issues, they will have to keep raising the issue of vengeance. This is the only example where money laundering is being alleged without any transfer of money. AJL (The Associated Journals Ltd) is more than 50 years old, and National Herald was standing with a lamp during the British rule. Sometimes organisations established on idealism do not do well financially. This happened with National Herald AJL. AICC at several stages gave a loan to National Herald, which touched Rs 90 crore at one point."
"To strengthen AJL financially, it was important to make it debt-free. We did what all the companies in the country do, that is to convert the debt to equity, for which a new company, Young Indian, was established. The debt of AJL was assigned to Young India. AJL's 99 per cent shareholding came into the hands of Young Indian. No property or money was moved. Oscar Fernandez, Motilal Vohra, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and others were in Young Indian," he added while describing the case.
Further, Singhvi said that former Union Minister Subramanian Swamy had filed a complaint in the case, on which he himself got a stay from the court.
Singhvi described the fresh FIR in the case as "stupidity".
"It was registered as a not-for-profit company under the Companies Act, which means it cannot give dividends and profits, nor are there any perks or salaries for the directors. I don't think anyone, from a law student to a PhD scholar, can explain this, but ED understood. A charge sheet was filed. I had argued that the chargesheet is to be cancelled as no government authority, police, or ED had filed the complaint. Only Subramanian Swamy had filed a private complaint in the court. Later, Swamy himself got a stay order from a High Court. The correct the stupidity, they filed a fresh FIR now," the Congress leader told reporters.
The fresh FIR included six names, in addition to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. It was registered after the ED headquarters filed a complaint with the EOW.
Meanwhile, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi again adjourned the decision on whether to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) chargesheet in the National Herald money laundering case.
The chargesheet names several senior Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED has alleged financial irregularities involving Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the original publisher of the National Herald. The court is now set to pronounce its order on December 16.