The Delhi High Court on Monday asked Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with other accused, to respond to a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate challenging a trial court order that declined to take cognisance of its chargesheet in the National Herald matter.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja issued notice on the ED’s main petition as well as its application seeking a stay on the trial court’s December 16 order. The high court has scheduled the next hearing for March 12, 2026.
The trial court had held that taking cognisance of the ED’s prosecution complaint was “impermissible in law” because the agency’s money laundering probe was not founded on a first information report for a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. According to the court, the investigation stemmed from a private complaint rather than an FIR, making the prosecution complaint unsustainable at the threshold.
In its reasoning, the trial court said that since cognisance was liable to be declined on a pure question of law, it did not examine the merits of the allegations. It also noted that despite a complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and a summoning order issued in 2014, the Central Bureau of Investigation did not register an FIR for the alleged scheduled offence.
The ED has accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and the private company Young Indian of conspiracy and money laundering. The agency alleges that assets worth around Rs 2,000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Limited, which publishes the National Herald newspaper, were acquired through a fraudulent arrangement.
According to the ED, the Gandhis held a 76 per cent stake in Young Indian, which allegedly took control of AJL’s properties in exchange for a Rs 90 crore loan. The agency contends that this amounted to unlawful usurpation of AJL’s assets.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the ED, while senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and R S Cheema represented the Gandhis. The high court will consider the ED’s challenge and its request for interim relief when the matter comes up next year.
