NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday deferred the pronouncement of its decision on the question of taking cognisance of the prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged National Herald money laundering case.
The high-profile case arrays Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress Overseas chief Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others as accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne, who was slated to deliver the verdict on Tuesday, deferred the pronouncement till the second week of August.
The Rouse Avenue Court had reserved its order on July 14 after hearing detailed arguments of the federal anti-money laundering agency as well as the proposed accused, including the Gandhis.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, representing the ED, had claimed that Young Indian Ltd -- in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are majority stakeholders – was used for usurping around Rs 2, 000 crore assets of the National Herald by paying a nominal price of Rs 50 lakh.
ASG Raju said that Young Indian exists just in name, and all the other accused are puppets of the Gandhi family.
As per the ED, a conspiracy was hatched to form Young Indian to acquire control over the vast assets of the now-defunct newspaper, aimed at benefiting the top Congress leadership personally.