In the National Herald case, Rousse Avenue Court of Delhi gave notice to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. The second hearing of the case was held in the court.
The court has also given notice to Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, Sunil Bhandari, Messrs Young India and Messrs Dotex Mercandise Private Limited in the case.
On 25 April, the court refused to issue notice to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi. The court had said that we cannot issue notice without listening to the side of the accused.
Special Judge Vishal Gogane held the first hearing on the petition of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 25 April. He said, ‘Some documents are also missing in the ED charge sheet. Enter those documents. Will then decide on issuing the notice.
The ED filed the first charge sheet on April 9 in the Money Laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper of the Congress and the Associated Journals Limited (AJL). In this, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey were accused.
ED said- we are not hiding anything
The ED had told the court that nothing is being hidden from our side. He is being given a chance to speak before being taken cognizance. We do not want it to take long to issue orders. Therefore, the court should issue a notice.
On this, the judge said that until the court is satisfied that the notice is needed, we cannot pass any order. Before issuing the order, it has to be seen that there is no shortage in it.
Action was taken to seize property before the charge sheet
Earlier on 12 April 2025, action was taken to seize the attachment properties during the investigation. The ED had notices on the building of AJL at Herald House (5A, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg) in Delhi, Bandra (East) in Mumbai and AJL at Visheshwar Nath Road in Lucknow.
Apart from these immovable properties worth 661 crores, AJL’s 90.2 crore rupees shares were attached by ED in November 2023 to secure the income of crime and prevent the accused from destroying it.
