It was a one-on-one questioning. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned by the investigating officer of the National Herald case at the newly constructed Enforcement Directorate headquarters at Pravartan Bhawan in central Delhi on Monday.
The questioning continued well past 9 pm. The investigating agency asked the Congress leader to appear before it on Tuesday for further questioning.
Rahul was taken to the interrogation room in the complex where a lone officer, an assistant director in ED, prepared more than a dozen questions for the Congress leader, who had marched to the ED office with a large convoy of party leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel.
Even as a political showdown unfolded outside, inside the high security office, the ED official, who started investigating the case since 2021, was looking into the biggest question: the alleged illegal benefit of Rs 414.40 crore in the form of several immovable properties which the ED claims was accrued by the Gandhi family.
Rahul was asked pointed questions on the nature and modus operandi of the alleged fraud and conspiracy that led to allegations of money laundering in the case. The basis of the ED case is the judicial process that began after the Delhi metropolitan court summoned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of Young Indian Ltd in 2014. This was challenged in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court, but no relief was granted. Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul are on bail.
The ED has designated interrogation rooms, around ten of them, where Rahul was first taken for questioning for three hours before the lunch break and after. The ED officials are learnt to have offered lunch to the Congress leader who declined saying he eats home cooked food. The ED has its own kitchen in the complex where both inmates in lockups and officers are served vegetarian food. Sources said as per protocol, the agency allowed Rahul to leave for lunch, only to return for further questioning.
The investigating agency had allowed Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain home cooked food while in custody in the last few days. Jain was arrested by ED in a separate money laundering case and lodged in a lockup before being sent to 14 day judicial custody on Monday.
In this case, Rahul was only being ''questioned'' by the ED and could not be denied a lunch break. Back from lunch, the investigating officer had his barrage of questions ready. Sources said the Congress leader was asked about transfer of shares of Associated Journals Ltd, the holding company that publishes the newspaper National Herald, to another company called Young Indian Ltd. In the ED's dossier are the evidences put before multiple judicial forums, including the order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in March this year which spoke of a “corporate veil” pierced by the Delhi High Court, which said, “If we see the transaction that has taken place in the present case with regard to how the transfer of shares between AJL and Young Indian took place, we find that within a period of three months between November 23, 2010 to February 26, 2011, Young Indian was constituted and took over the right to recover a loan of more than Rs 90 crore from AICC for a consideration of Rs 50,00,000 and thereafter replaced the original shareholders of Young Indian by four new entities.''
The order further said, ''The four new entities, including Moti Lal Vohra, chairman of AJL and Young India after acquiring 99 per cent shares in AJL, became the main share holder with four of its shareholders acquiring the administrative right to administer the property of more than Rs 400 crore.''
It is on these points that the ED is questioning Rahul. It is the surmise of the ED, as well as IT, that there is no distinction between the two entities and the entire transaction of transferring shares of AJL to Young Indian was allegedly a “clandestine and suspicious transfer of the liquidated interest in the premises to Young Indian.”
The Congress defended Rahul saying no money laundering is involved and so the ED does not have a case against him under the law.
However, there doesn't seem to be any relief coming to Rahul soon as he is likely to be questioned again by the ED in the matter.
The highly secure ED complex, guarded by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, meanwhile, remained the most sought-after address on Monday with Congress leaders from across the country marching in protest to the building, prompting the Delhi Police to beef up security to prevent any untoward incidents.
