The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Rahul Gandhi for the fourth time for interrogation in the alleged money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper.
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has reportedly requested the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to push back the Friday summons to a later date, said sources close to the Congress. The sources added Rahul is currently with Sonia Gandhi at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi.
The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Rahul Gandhi for the fourth time for interrogation in the alleged money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. The central agency has also summoned Sonia Gandhi but the Congress interim president is currently undergoing treatment at the hospital for some Covid-related complications and is expected to join the interrogation soon.
On Wednesday, the ED interrogated Rahul Gandhi for nearly 10 hours while on Tuesday the central agency had quizzed the senior Congress leader for nearly 11 hours. On Monday, the ED had questioned Rahul Gandhi for 10 hours.
On Tuesday, after appearing before the ED, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had met their mother and Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Sonia Gandhi was admitted to the hospital for treatment of Covid-related complications.
Also Read: National Herald case: Rahul Gandhi asked to appear before ED again on Friday
The ED case is based on an order by a trial court that allowed the Income Tax Department to probe the affairs of the National Herald newspaper and conduct a tax assessment of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. The order was a result of a petition filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.
Subramanian Swamy had alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds on the part of the Gandhis in acquiring National Herald. He had also alleged that the Gandhis had acquired properties owned by the newspaper by buying the its erstwhile publishers, AJL, through an organisation called Young Indian in which the Gandhis have 86 per cent stake. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were granted bail in the case by the trial court in December 2015.
The Delhi Police on Wednesday too detained Congress workers and leaders who have been protesting at the national capital since Monday against the ED summons to Rahul and Sonia Gandhi.
Keeping in mind Congress’s protest march in the national capital on Monday, the police and paramilitary forces have been deployment in large numbers near the Congress headquarters in Delhi. Barricades have been put up to prevent movement of Congress workers.