Sonia Gandhi Requests for 3 Weeks Extension Due to COVID, ED Agrees: Sources

Rahul Gandhi is expected to appear before the ED on Monday, 13 June, accompanied by Congress leaders.

Sonia Gandhi had tested positive for Covid on 2 June.

(Photo: Facebook/Rajiv Gandhi Foundation)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will issue fresh summons to Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi for questioning in the National Herald money laundering case after she asked for three more weeks since she was still COVID positive and in isolation, as per media reports.

Gandhi had tested positive for COVID-19 on 2 June and was expected to turn up for questioning at the agency offices on Wednesday, 8 June.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi had been summoned on 2 June, but he asked for fresh dates as he was not in the country at the time.

The Wayanad MP is now expected to appear before the ED on Monday, 13 June, accompanied by Congress leaders.

Meanwhile, speaking on the summons, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera had said, "We are a law-abiding party. We follow rules. So, if they have been summoned, of course, they will go. We have nothing to hide," news agency PTI reported.

"We are not like them (the Bharatiya Janata Party). We remember when Amit Shah was running around in 2002 to 2013... They will learn some lessons from us on what kind of people, who adhere to the path of truth, are. They should learn from us," he added.

The Case

The case involves allegations of cheating, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust in the acquisition of the Associated Journals Limited – which ran the newspaper – by Young Indian Pvt Ltd.

The ED had said that it wanted to record the statements of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

A fresh case had been filed into the matter under the PMLA's criminal provisions after a court took notice of a probe conducted by the Income Tax Department against Young India Pvt Ltd, which owns National Herald, after BJP MP Subramanian Swamy filed a criminal complaint in connection with the matter.

Swamy had alleged that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi had conspired to misappropriate funds, as Young Indian had paid only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover around Rs 90 crore which was owed to the Congress by Associate Journals Ltd.