Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been again summoned on Tuesday for the next round of ED questioning in connection to a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper, sources said.
Gandhi on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for the fourth day of questioning. A day after his 52nd birthday, Gandhi arrived at the ED headquarters on the APJ Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi at 11.05 am with his ‘Z+’ category CRPF security escort.
A huge contingent of police and paramilitary personnel was deployed around the federal agency’s office even as Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been imposed in the adjoining area like last week. Leaving the ED office for over an hour-long break, the former Congress chief re-joined the questioning at around 4:45 pm.
Senior Congress leaders and workers held a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against the ED action and the Centre’s Agnipath defence recruitment scheme.
The Congress MP from Kerala’s Wayanad has spent around 35 hours at the ED office during these four days, where he was questioned over multiple sessions and his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The fourth day of questioning was deferred from June 17 to Monday after Gandhi urged the probe agency to postpone it owing to his mother, Sonia Gandhi’s Covid-19 treatment. Congress president Sonia Gandhi was discharged on Monday evening from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and advised to take rest at home. She had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on June 2 and was recuperating at the facility since June 12 owing to post-Covid issues. Sonia Gandhi has also been summoned by the agency for questioning in the case on June 23.
The ED probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper. The ED is understood to be asking Rahul Gandhi about the incorporation of the Young Indian Private Limited, operations of the National Herald, the loan given by the party to the newspaper’s publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL), and the transfer of funds within the news media establishment.
(With PTI inputs)
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