Gaurav Sarkar
12th Nov|4m read
The Herald Corruption Case: Allegations and Legal Proceedings
Explore the National Herald corruption case, detailing allegations of financial misconduct involving Congress leaders, the takeover of Associated Journals.
EconomyGovernment
For ten years, the ghost of a media firm founded by none other than Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and other freedom fighters has been casting a grim, gloomy shadow over Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and her son and former party chief Rahul Gandhi.
The original case dates back to 2013 when BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy filed a private criminal complaint against the Gandhis in a trial court, alleging that the duo had taken over Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the publishing company of the National Herald newspaper, in a fraudulent manner.
AJL published two other newspapers: Quami Awaz in Urdu and Navjeevan in Hindi.
The newspaper transformed into the Congress party’s mouthpiece after Independence. However, in 2008, all three of AJL’s print publications were forced to shut shop as its debt towered close to Rs 90 crore.
After incurring losses, AJL was acquired by a charitable private company called Young India Ltd (YI) for Rs 50 lakh in December 2010.
YI itself was incorporated only a month earlier as a Section 25 company that is exempt from tax. At the time of inception, it (the company) had a total share capital of only Rs 5 lakh.
As of today, YI owns around Rs 8,000 crore of assets.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi hold 76 percent of YI’s shares and are also on its board of directors. The remaining 24 percent is owned by senior Congress functionaries Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes.
AJL retired its debt for Rs 50 lakh, which was paid by YI to the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Since AJL was unable to pay back the loan, the company—and more importantly, its assets—were transferred to YIL.
The principal amount (Rs 50 lakh) was converted into equity shares of AJL, thereby making it a fully owned subsidiary of YI.
According to Swamy’s complaint, YI “took over” the assets of AJL to gain profits and assets worth well over Rs 2,000 crore.
He also alleged that the loan given to AJL was "illegal" since it had been taken from party funds.
Some of the real estate properties owned by AJL are worth hundreds of crores and are scattered across Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, and other cities.
When the trial court summoned the accused(s) in 2014, it observed, based on Swamy’s petition and the evidence available, that YI was “created as a sham to convert public money to personal use.”
All the accused in the case, which includes, Sonia, Rahul, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, and Motilal Vora, were granted bail by the Patiala Court in 2015.
In the winter of 2018, the BJP government at the Centre evicted AJL from Herald House in Delhi, citing that the property was being used for commercial purposes, and not for publishing.
A year later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) permanently attached properties of the National Herald worth over Rs 64 crore in Gurugram under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In 2020, the central investigating agency also attached a Rs 16 crore property in Mumbai.
It is only now, in 2022, that the ED has begun its interrogation of all the accused—starting with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Essentially, the National Herald case is best described as a money laundering case. More specifically, it names the Gandhis, as well as several other top Congress leaders, of cheating and breach of trust while “maliciously” taking over the parent company of the National Herald.
Although Congress has labeled it as a “political witch hunt” and has held massive countrywide demonstrations to express their discontent, it is safe to say that the questioning of both, Sonia and Rahul, is just the beginning of a long and tiresome journey that is bound to hamper the Congress’s political image for at least the next couple of years.
Gaurav Sarkar
12th Nov 2022•4 mins read
The Herald Corruption Case: Allegations and Legal Proceedings
Explore the National Herald corruption case, detailing allegations of financial misconduct involving Congress leaders, the takeover of Associated Journals.
For ten years, the ghost of a media firm founded by none other than Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and other freedom fighters has been casting a grim, gloomy shadow over Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and her son and former party chief Rahul Gandhi.
The original case dates back to 2013 when BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy filed a private criminal complaint against the Gandhis in a trial court, alleging that the duo had taken over Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the publishing company of the National Herald newspaper, in a fraudulent manner.
AJL published two other newspapers: Quami Awaz in Urdu and Navjeevan in Hindi.
The newspaper transformed into the Congress party’s mouthpiece after Independence. However, in 2008, all three of AJL’s print publications were forced to shut shop as its debt towered close to Rs 90 crore.
After incurring losses, AJL was acquired by a charitable private company called Young India Ltd (YI) for Rs 50 lakh in December 2010.
YI itself was incorporated only a month earlier as a Section 25 company that is exempt from tax. At the time of inception, it (the company) had a total share capital of only Rs 5 lakh.
As of today, YI owns around Rs 8,000 crore of assets.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi hold 76 percent of YI’s shares and are also on its board of directors. The remaining 24 percent is owned by senior Congress functionaries Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes.
AJL retired its debt for Rs 50 lakh, which was paid by YI to the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Since AJL was unable to pay back the loan, the company—and more importantly, its assets—were transferred to YIL.
The principal amount (Rs 50 lakh) was converted into equity shares of AJL, thereby making it a fully owned subsidiary of YI.
According to Swamy’s complaint, YI “took over” the assets of AJL to gain profits and assets worth well over Rs 2,000 crore.
He also alleged that the loan given to AJL was "illegal" since it had been taken from party funds.
Some of the real estate properties owned by AJL are worth hundreds of crores and are scattered across Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, and other cities.
When the trial court summoned the accused(s) in 2014, it observed, based on Swamy’s petition and the evidence available, that YI was “created as a sham to convert public money to personal use.”
All the accused in the case, which includes, Sonia, Rahul, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, and Motilal Vora, were granted bail by the Patiala Court in 2015.
In the winter of 2018, the BJP government at the Centre evicted AJL from Herald House in Delhi, citing that the property was being used for commercial purposes, and not for publishing.
A year later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) permanently attached properties of the National Herald worth over Rs 64 crore in Gurugram under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In 2020, the central investigating agency also attached a Rs 16 crore property in Mumbai.
It is only now, in 2022, that the ED has begun its interrogation of all the accused—starting with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Essentially, the National Herald case is best described as a money laundering case. More specifically, it names the Gandhis, as well as several other top Congress leaders, of cheating and breach of trust while “maliciously” taking over the parent company of the National Herald.
Although Congress has labeled it as a “political witch hunt” and has held massive countrywide demonstrations to express their discontent, it is safe to say that the questioning of both, Sonia and Rahul, is just the beginning of a long and tiresome journey that is bound to hamper the Congress’s political image for at least the next couple of years.