Congress leaders on Wednesday welcomed a Delhi court's dismissal of the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) money laundering complaint against Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case, calling the probe politically motivated.
A special press briefing was held in New Delhi with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and K.C. Venugopal in attendance.
Speaking at the briefing, Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "In this case, because of power, allegations were in the air and laws were grounded." He detailed the timeline of investigations, stating, "Between 2021-25, the ED interrogated Rahul Gandhi for 50 hours, Kharge ji for 5-6 hours, and Sonia ji for 7-8 hours."
Singhvi added that the case had been in motion for years: "During that period, attachments and asset freezes occurred. This story was started in 2014 by Subramanian Swamy, a private complainant, who repeatedly wrote to the CBI and ED. From 2014 to 2021, for seven years, CBI and ED, in written form in their files, stated that there was no predicate offence. I am talking on the basis of documents."
He also explained the legal position: "For predicting offences, the CBI is there, and for money laundering, the ED is there. Both gave a joint consensus, and the word was used in paragraph 232 that no FIR can be formed in this case, as there is no predicate offence. After that, on June 30, 2021, an FIR was lodged. For seven years, when no FIR was meant to be lodged, an FIR was eventually filed. If this is not political malice, then what is?"
Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the use of investigative agencies for political purposes.
"This National Herald case was registered with the intention of political vendetta. This paper is not a today's thing; it was established by freedom fighters to gain independence. But today, these people are using the CBI and ED to defame and disturb, especially targeting the Gandhi family," said Kharge.
"Matters which have no weight are being forcefully given weightage, trying to harass our Congress leaders. They used ED cases politically, took many MPs on their side, and formed governments in many places. But today, justice is being served. We welcome this judgment, saying 'Satyamev Jayate'," he added.
The press briefing followed the Delhi court's ruling earlier on Tuesday, which dismissed the ED's complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, stating that the case was based on a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and not on a first information report (FIR), making it legally untenable.
The Congress leaders asserted that the judgment reaffirmed the independence of the judiciary and underscored that investigative agencies should not be misused for political purposes.
(With inputs from IANS)
