Congress President and party leader Sonia Gandhi once again has been summoned with a fresh date by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning.
The ED while issuing the summons on Monday asked the Congress party president to appear before it on July 21 in the alleged money laundering case connected to the National Herald newspaper.
Health issues:
Summons was issued to her on June 8 with her son Rahul Gandhi to which she had requested two weeks owing to her health issues.
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Sonia had written to the probe agency seeking postponement of her appearance by a few weeks till she recovers completely from Covid-19 and a lung infection.
ED had accepted Sonia's written request seeking deferment of summons. She was given two weeks of time.
Sonia Gandhi was discharged from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi on June 18, over a week after she was admitted to the facility owing to post-Covid issues.
Previous summons:
After her discharge, the Congress chief was once again summoned on June 23 by the ED in the National Herald money laundering case in which her son and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi were questioned for five days.
National Herald Case:
The probe relates to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper.
The move to question the Gandhis was initiated after the ED late last year lodged a fresh case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following a trial court here taking cognisance of an income-tax department probe against Young Indian on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in 2013.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are among the promoters and majority shareholders of Young Indian. Like her son, the Congress president too has 38 per cent shareholding in the company.
Swamy had accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds, with Young Indian paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that Associated Journals Limited (AJL) owed to the Congress.
In February last year, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Gandhis for their response on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader's plea, seeking to lead evidence in the matter before the trial court.
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal were questioned by the ED in connection with the case in April.
The Congress has accused the Centre of targeting opposition leaders by misusing investigative agencies and attributed the entire action in the matter to "political vendetta".
