Court postpones notice to Gandhis in National Herald case

New Delhi

On Friday, Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court decided not to issue notices to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others in the National Herald money laundering case for now. The court set the next hearing date for May 2.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), represented by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, argued that under new legal guidelines, the accused must be heard before taking cognizance of the chargesheet. They urged the court to issue the notice promptly, but Special Judge Vishal Gogne stated that the court needed to be convinced of the necessity of the notice first.

The judge also pointed out missing documents in the chargesheet, instructing the ED to submit the required paperwork before the court could decide on issuing the notices.

The ED assured the court of transparency, stating that they were not withholding any information and giving the accused a chance to present their side. Recently, the ED filed a prosecution complaint against the Gandhis, Congress leader Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and several firms in connection with the money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The case stems from an earlier complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy, involving charges under Sections 403, 406, and 420 of the IPC, which is currently under trial in the same court. The court emphasized that both the predicate offence and the money laundering offence must be adjudicated in the same jurisdiction.