Bharatiya Janata Party Senior Leader, Former Union Minister and Lok Sabha MP Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, while addressing a press conference at the BJP Central Office in Delhi on Sunday, called the Congress party’s reaction to the new FIR registered against Rahul Gandhi and others in the National Herald corruption and money laundering case false and baseless. He noted that this case dates back to the period before the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power. Shri Prasad said that instead of giving speeches, the Congress should answer for the loot that took place.
Shri Prasad asserted that the Congress party’s sharp reaction to the new FIR registered against Rahul Gandhi and others in the National Herald corruption and money laundering case is baseless and false. The country must know that this entire matter is from the period before the government of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji came to power. The ED, while taking action, investigated the entire history of the National Herald case, which began with a private complaint. Associated Journals had a loan of about ₹90 crore, which had been given by the Congress party, and later the shares of this company were purchased for only ₹50 lakh through a new company, ‘Young India Limited’. After the ₹90 crore loan was waived, all the shares of Associated Journals went to this new company, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had a 76 percent share, while some share was with the late Fernandes and others. The major benefit of this process was that control over the properties of the National Herald—worth thousands of crores of rupees and located in places such as Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bhopal, Chandigarh, and Patna—went to this new company. These properties were built earlier on government land and earn hundreds of crores of rupees in rent. All this land had been given at cheap rates by the Congress government, and eventually the ownership of all these properties also went to the company in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi held the majority stake.
The BJP MP noted that paying only ₹50 lakh for a ₹90 crore loan and transferring the entire shareholding of Associated Journals to their new company, and through it acquiring ownership of all the buildings across the country, is a clear case of loot. When a complaint was filed regarding this, they went for quashing, but the Delhi High Court dismissed the petition and asked them to face trial. The Supreme Court also said that they would have to face trial. The Income Tax Department rejected their claim of being a charitable trust and clearly said that no charity had been done; rather, it was a direct campaign to grab property. After this, the ED conducted an investigation and, reaching a conclusion under Section 66 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, requested the Delhi Police to register an FIR, on the basis of which the Delhi Police Crime Branch registered the FIR.
Prasad stated that these people first manipulated accounts to take over this company, acquired properties worth thousands of crores in its name, and then claimed that they were being framed, whereas the law is simply doing its work and this case is from before the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power. The Congress has lost in the Income Tax Department, lost in the Delhi High Court, and lost in the Supreme Court, so now they must face trial. In the Delhi Police FIR, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have also been charged under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420, and since the matter is old, it will proceed under the old penal code. The Congress party is making baseless and false allegations, which is strongly condemned, and it is urged that instead of giving speeches, the Congress should answer for the loot that took place.