New Delhi, December 22 The Delhi High Court has issued notice to seven accused, including Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, in the National Herald case, on a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The next hearing in the case will be held on March 12, 2026.
The Delhi High Court has issued notice on the ED’s petition challenging the Rouse Avenue Court’s decision to refuse cognizance of the money laundering case against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The Rouse Avenue Court had refused to take cognizance of the ED’s charge sheet.
Senior advocate Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED in the Delhi High Court, said in his argument that the final conclusion is that the accused received assets worth ₹2,000 crore in exchange for a sum of ₹50 lakh. In June 2014, a private complaint was filed by an individual, which was taken cognizance of by a lower court, but later stayed by the Delhi High Court.
Tushar Mehta argued that if someone files a one-page FIR, it could be an ED offense, but couldn’t the ED complaint be the basis for a court to take cognizance under Section 200 CrPC? The court stated that if the court took cognizance of a private complaint, the ED could do nothing.
Senior lawyer Tushar Mehta stated that the lower court had made a grave error. This is not just a matter of this case, but will impact many other cases as well, as the court stated that if a court took cognizance of a private complaint, the ED could do nothing.
Earlier, Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogane of the Rouse Avenue Court had refused to take cognizance of the ED complaint, finding it to be unconstitutional.
However, while granting relief to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the court clarified that the ED is free to continue its investigation in accordance with the law. In addition to the Gandhi family, the ED has also named Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Private Limited as proposed accused in the case.
This high-profile case relates to allegations that senior Congress leaders conspired to illegally acquire assets worth over ₹2,000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the original publisher of the National Herald newspaper. They paid a mere sum of ₹50 lakh through Young Indian, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are shareholders.
