has filed the FIR <\/a>against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with six others, in connection with the alleged irregular acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL).<\/p>\nThe case is based on allegations that the leaders and their associates worked together to wrongfully take control of the company, which was earlier linked to the Congress and had properties worth about Rs 2,000 crore. According to the FIR dated October 3, the takeover was carried out through Young Indian, a company in which the Gandhis together held 76 per cent of the shares.<\/p>\n
The police action was a result of complaint submitted by the Headquarters Investigative Unit (HIU) of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED had shared its detailed findings from its probe into the National Herald money laundering case, covering the period between 2008 and 2024.<\/p>\n
Sharing of information under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) allows the ED to request another agency to register and investigate a scheduled offence. Once such an offence is recorded, it becomes the basis \u2014 or predicate offence \u2014 for the ED to continue its own money laundering probe.<\/p>\n
The ED\u2019s investigation is based on a private complaint filed by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy. A metropolitan magistrate at Patiala House had taken cognisance of the complaint in June 2014, setting the legal process in motion. Since then, the ED has been conducting an inquiry into the alleged irregularities linked to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) and its acquisition.<\/p>\n
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