Congress MPs protest in Parliament after court rejects ED case in National Herald matter

Senior leaders and Members of Parliament from the Indian National Congress on Wednesday staged a protest within the Parliament House complex, a day after a Delhi court declined to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s money-laundering complaint in the National Herald case involving Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Carrying placards and a banner reading “Satyamev Jayate, Truth Prevails”, the protesting MPs gathered near the steps of the Makar Dwar inside the Parliament premises. They raised slogans against the Narendra Modi-led government, alleging political vendetta and demanding an apology from the Centre for what they described as the misuse of central agencies.

Congress MPs said the court’s decision reaffirmed their long-held stand that the case lacked legal merit. They accused the government of weaponising the Enforcement Directorate to target Opposition leaders, asserting that the ruling demonstrated that “truth had ultimately prevailed”.

Several senior party figures took part in the demonstration, including Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, and MPs Shashi Tharoor, Tariq Anwar, Kumari Selja, K Suresh and Manickam Tagore.

The protest followed a significant order passed on Tuesday by Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Court, who refused to take cognisance of the ED’s prosecution complaint filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court held that the complaint, as presented, was not maintainable, while clarifying that the agency was free to continue its investigation in accordance with the law.

Apart from Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the ED had named several others in its complaint, including Congress Overseas chief Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian and Dotex Merchandise Private Limited.

The case relates to allegations that senior Congress leaders conspired to illegally acquire assets worth over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Limited, the original publisher of the National Herald newspaper, through Young Indian, a company in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are majority stakeholders.

Welcoming the court’s decision, Congress leaders reiterated their faith in the judiciary and maintained that they would continue to oppose what they view as the ruling dispensation’s misuse of power to intimidate political opponents.

With IANS inputs