In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has identified total proceeds of crime amounting to ₹988 crore in the Young Indian-Associated Journals Ltd case, involving Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The ED’s provisional attachment order, issued in November, outlines assets including real estate and shares worth ₹755 crore, along with rent earnings of ₹142 crore since 2010-11.
The order reveals that Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), parent company of National Herald, acquired most assets as “freehold” or on “long-term lease” from central and state governments. The accrued benefits to Young Indian (YI), with 38% ownership by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, include rights to commercial assets in prominent locations across the country.
The rent component, totaling ₹142 crore, is deemed part of the proceeds of crime, as it represents benefits from properties obtained through criminal activity. ED asserts that YI took complete control over AJL’s properties in various cities, utilizing rent earnings for development, particularly in Mumbai.
ED alleges irregularities in AJL’s balance sheets, pointing out instances where properties were transferred, sold, mortgaged, or third-party rights created. Dubious transactions, including the sale of portions of a building in Bhopal and mortgaging a plot in Panchkula, have raised concerns.
Congress has refuted the charges, labeling the case as a “witch-hunt.” Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a Congress member, described it as a “strange case” with no evidence of money flow or laundering.
The case, initiated by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in 2012, alleges the misuse of party funds by the Gandhis to purchase AJL. The court took cognizance in 2014, leading to the ED filing a money laundering case in 2021.
