National Pioneer Case: Congressional Workers Protest at the Opposition Center Outside AICC Office, Ed

Congressional workers held a protest outside the office of the Indian Congress Committee at 24 Akbar Road on Wednesday, condemning the BJP-led central government after Ed targeted senior party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in connection with the national pioneer case. The Enforcement Bureau said Tuesday it had filed a charge form in a money laundering case related to the National Herald on April 9. In addition to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the fee sheet also named senior congressional leaders Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as co-defendants.

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, who attended the protests, criticized the center’s move, saying it was an attempt to target the Gandhi family and Congress.

“Nothing happened in the last 12 years, it was a 12-year-old case. They filed a money laundering case, without exchanging a penny. The reality is that the government has been working to nail the Gandhi family and Congress. But we will fight them,” Shrinate told PTI Videos.
“BJP is afraid of Rahul Gandhi because of his political approach and the questions he raised,” Shrinate said.

The charges were filed under Articles 3 and 4 of the Preventive Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which deals with money laundering and punishment for crimes.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne recognized the fee and listed the matter on April 25. The incident happened two days after ED filed a lawsuit to own real estate assets worth Rs 6.66 crore, which is related to the National Herald and its publisher, the related Journals Limited (AJL). The agency said it had issued a notice to real estate registrars in Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow on April 11 directing them to take over the AJL assets under PMLA. Congress Secretary General Jairam Ramesh responded to ED’s move, calling it “Vendetta’s politics” and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Interior Minister Amit Shah of abuse of the investigative body.

“Catching the assets of the National Herald is a crime of state sponsorship disguised as the rule of law. To Smt. Snia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others are nothing more than Vendetta’s political, PM and HM leadership talents who are totally Berserk.

The National Pioneer Case revolves around AJL’s alleged acquisition of properties worth more than Rs 200 million, and later moved to a young Indian company with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each owned 38% stake.

The case originated from a complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in 2014 and has since been upheld by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are currently on bail since 2015.