ED summons Sonia Gandhi; asks her to appear on July 21

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday issued a summon to Sonia Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case.

ED has asked her to appear before it on July 21.

Gandhi was issued a second summons for June 23 by the agency, but the 75-year-old Congress leader could not keep the date as she was "strictly advised to rest at home following her hospitalisation on account of Covid-19 and a lung infection."

She had sought postponing of the summons by four weeks and hence, she has been asked to depose before the agency on July 21, the officials said.

The Congress president was first issued the notice for appearance on June 8 but after she reported positive for Covid, the summons for June 23 was issued.

Her son and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been questioned by the agency in the case for over 50 hours in sessions spread across five days.

From shareholding pattern to transfer of AJL assets into YIL and various other unanswered questions linked are yet to be unearthed by the ED in the case.

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

National Herald is published by the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by YIL.

The case to investigate alleged financial irregularities under the PMLA was registered about nine months ago after a trial court took cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe carried out on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Swamy had approached the court alleging that the assets of AJL were fraudulently acquired and transferred to YIL, in which Sonia Gandhi and her son owned 38 per cent shares each.


(With inputs from agencies)