National Herald case: Sonia Gandhi arrives at ED office for questioning; party MPs court mass arrest

NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here for questioning in the National Herald money laundering case.

Gandhi, 75, arrived at the federal probe agency's headquarters located at Vidyut Lane flanking A P J Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi a little after noon escorted by her Z+ category CRPF security cover.

The questioning will be conducted keeping in mind Covid protocols and the session will be conducted by the same assistant director-level investigation officer who had questioned Rahul Gandhi in the case.

The questioning team will also have a woman officer and all of them have obtained 'Covid negative' certificates in order to participate in the session, sources said.

Gandhi, who was diagnosed with Covid recently, was seen wearing a mask and was accompanied by her children Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Vadra will be allowed to stay in the 'Pravartan Bhawan' headquarters of the agency, away from the questioning room, so that in case of a health issue she can be with her mother and provide her medicines.

Rahul Gandhi later left the place.

Ahead of Sonia Gandhi's appearance, the Delhi Police deployed a huge force including CRPF and RAF personnel and barricaded the entire over one km stretch between Gandhi's residence on Akbar Road-Janpath and the ED office even as traffic restrictions have been enforced around the area.

The party slammed the agency's action against its top leadership and called it a "political vendetta".

Congress leader Sachin Pilot told reporters outside the AICC office that the ED action was a "blatant misuse of probe agencies and this has to stop, they cannot muzzle opposition's voice."

"The case (Herald money laundering) has been created to demoralise the opposition. You can't declare people corrupt because you dislike them," the former Union minister and deputy chief minister of Rajasthan said.

Another leader Pawan Khera said probe agencies will not be able to silence the Congress and they will continue to do their 'satyagraha' which is their right.

A number of party supporters protesting against the treatment meted to their party leader were rounded up by the police and paramilitary personnel from outside the ED and Congress office and bundled into buses.

The Congress chief is deposing on the third summons as she sought exemption on earlier dates of June 8 and June 23 owing to coronavirus infection.

Her statement is being recorded by the agency under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and it will be also be taped in an audio-video mode.

The agency, according to sources, will give her an option to either write down or dictate her answers to an ED staffer over the computer, who will be present along with the investigating officer of the case.

The probe relates to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper.

Rahul Gandhi has been questioned by the agency in the case for over 50 hours in sessions spread across five days last month.

A few years back, the ED had questioned Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra as part of its probe into two another money laundering investigations.

The probe relates to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper.

Rahul Gandhi has been questioned by the agency in the case for over 50 hours in sessions spread across five days last month.

A few years back, the ED had questioned Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra as part of its probe into two another money laundering investigations.

The ED, sources said, wanted to understand how the loan was extended to AJL by the Congress party and if the provisions of the Companies Act and the anti-money laundering law were contravened in this AJL-Congress-Young Indian deal.

The ED says that assets worth about Rs 800 crore are "owned" by the AJL and it wants to know from the Gandhis how a not-for-profit company like Young Indian was undertaking commercial activities of renting out its land and building assets.

A loan of Rs one crore taken by YI from a Kolkata-based company in February 2011 is also under the scanner of the ED.

The party had said AJL, which was established in 1937, faced huge debts and the Congress, from 2002 to 2011, gave Rs 90 crore to the National Herald newspaper, out of which Rs 66 crore was used to pay salaries/VRS of journalists and staffers who worked there.

Party MPs and Congress Working Committee (CWC) members "courted mass arrest" outside the AICC headquarters here on Thursday in a show of collective solidarity with her.

"All Congress MPs and CWC members have courted mass arrest outside our party HQs in a show of collective solidarity with Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi, a target of Vishguru's political vendetta," party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.

"We are being taken away to a police station in Old Delhi evidently," he added.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the Congress has always been at the forefront of fighting against "tyranny" and Sonia Gandhi has stood strong against innumerable odds.

"The autocratic Modi government will never be able to intimidate her," he said in a tweet.

Congress's Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha said even a "peaceful satyagraha" is banned in this country.

"@INCIndia MPs are being arrested and taken to a police station in a bus," he said in a tweet and posted a picture of Congress leaders, including himself, sitting in a bus.

Ahead of Sonia Gandhi's questioning by the ED, the party alleged that the Delhi Police is preventing the media from entering the AICC headquarters and said this "high-handedness" reflects the mindset of the Narendra Modi government.

"From the early hours of this morning the Delhi Police -- obviously taking orders from the Union Home Minister -- is preventing the media from entering the Congress party headquarters," Ramesh said in another tweet.

"This high-handedness was only to be expected and reflects the mindset of the Modi Sarkar," he added.

Ramesh had said on Wednesday that the Congress will stage demonstrations across the country in "a most telling manner" against what he described as political vendetta.

When Rahul Gandhi was questioned by the ED, the police had made elaborate arrangements.

A large number of Congress leaders were detained, taken to far-away locations and released only at midnight.

Congress MPs had raised strong objections and complained to the president, vice president and Lok Sabha speaker against the police's "high-handedness".

The party also slammed the Modi government for "misusing" probe agencies against opposition leaders and staged protests.\

Senior Congress leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condemned the ED action of calling Sonia for questioning and said the probe agency should first hold a press conference to spell out under what charges she is being probed.

"I condemn the ED action of calling Sonia Gandhi for questioning," he told reporters at a press conference.

"The ED should have gone to her residence to take her responses to their questions," he said, citing past precedents, adding that this is being done to harass her.

Referring to the questioning of Rahul Gandhi earlier, Gehlot said never has anyone questioned a leader for five days in a row and long hours of questioning.

"Their aim is to demoralise and create problems," he alleged.

Gehlot said this action comes after the Udaipur declaration of the Congress party, which received a very encouraging response from the public.

Earlier, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed the media was also being prevented from entering the Congress headquarters.

"From the early hours of this morning the Delhi Police, obviously taking orders from the Union Home Minister, is preventing the media from entering the Congress party headquarters. This high-handedness was only to be expected and reflects the mindset of the Modi Sarkar," Ramesh said on Twitter.

He also said that the ED action comes to prevent Congress from raising issues of the public like price rise and unemployment, which they will continue.

The Congress has organised protests in the national capital and across the country.

Gehlot alleged that there are two laws in India with one for the BJP and one for the opposition.

He also alleged that the area around the Congress headquarters here has been turned into a police cantonment and no one is being allowed entry.

"They consider the opposition as their enemies and the target is to make the country opposition-free. Earlier their slogan was to make it 'Congress-mukt'," he said, alleging that the country is headed towards such times that all Indians should be worried.

Gehlot also claimed that the ED is being used by the ruling BJP as a "big weapon to bring down governments of opposition".

"There can't be anything more cheap and shameful than this," he said.

He said the ED has made 1,700 raids and their conviction rate is 0.5 per cent as due processes and not followed.

The Rajasthan chief minister said he wanted to meet the heads of the IT, CBI, ED and CBDT chairman as the credibility of these probe agencies in the eyes of the public is going down.