'Have you ever seen a criminal say I'm criminal': BJP chief JP Nadda on ED summons to Sonia, Rahul in National Herald case

NEW DELHI: BJP chief Jagat Prakash Nadda on Wednesday made a scathing attack on Congress, which said that it won’t bow to such pressure tactics after the Enforcement Directorate summoned Sonia Gandhi and her Congress MP son Rahul Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case, which was closed by the investigating agency in 2015.

“Have you ever seen a criminal say I'm criminal? They'll (Sonia-Rahul Gandhi) of course deny it. Documents are proof. If the chargesheet is filed, you'd approach the court to get it quashed, but they sought bail. It means they're guilty,” BJP chief JP Nadda said, according to ANI.

Have you ever seen a criminal say I'm criminal? They'll(Sonia-Rahul Gandhi)of course deny it. Documents are proof. If chargesheet is filed, you'd approach court to get it quashed, but they sought bail. It means they're guilty: BJP chief JP Nadda on ED notice to Sonia-Rahul Gandhi pic.twitter.com/8dBaowAtvy — ANI (@ANI) June 1, 2022

The remarks from the BJP chief came shortly after the federal agency issued summons for questioning Sonia Gandhi and Rahul. Its move followed the questioning of senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Treasurer Pawan Bansal in April this year in New Delhi in connection with its money laundering probe into the National Herald case.

The agency then recorded the statements of both the Congress leaders then under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The National Herald is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian Pvt Limited (YIL). While Kharge is the CEO of YIL, Bansal is the Managing Director of AJL.

The ED is currently investigating the shareholding pattern and financial transactions as well as role of party functionaries in the functioning of AJL and YIL.

The YIL promoters include Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. BJP MP Subramanian Swamy had alleged that the Gandhis cheated and misappropriated funds, with YIL paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that AJL owed to the Congress.

He had filed a complaint with a Delhi court earlier. Following the court taking cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe against YIL on Swamy`s petition, the ED also registered a fresh case under PMLA. 

Meanwhile, Congress said that it will not be cowed down by any such "vendetta" by the BJP government. Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Randeep Surjewala said party president Sonia Gandhi has been summoned by the ED for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper on June 8, and she was determined to appear before the agency as she has nothing to hide.

They said former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has also been summoned, and that he has written to the probe agency to postpone the date to after June 5 as he is not in the country. "The Modi government should know that by registering such fake and fabricated cases, they cannot succeed in their cowardly conspiracy," Singhvi told reporters.