A special court in Delhi has initiated daily hearings on the money laundering case linked to the now-defunct National Herald newspaper. This high-profile case involves Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress parliamentary party, and her son Rahul Gandhi, who is the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha. The proceedings are being overseen by Special Judge Vishal Gogna from the CBI.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General V. Raju, representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED), stated that the Congress party aimed to seize Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which holds assets valued at ₹2,000 crores. Raju alleged that this scheme was orchestrated by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi on behalf of the Congress party.

AJL was responsible for publishing the National Herald newspaper, which was founded by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Raju claimed that a conspiracy was devised to create Young Indian, in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi held 76% of the shares, to misappropriate ₹2,000 crores worth of assets against a loan of ₹90 crores taken from the Congress party. He noted that Young Indian had declared Sonia and Rahul Gandhi as beneficial owners.

Raju further argued that AJL, a company with assets worth ₹2,000 crores, was acquired for a loan of ₹90 crores, constituting fraud. He emphasized that the acquisition was not conducted by Congress but by Young Indian, labeling it a conspiracy. He pointed out that Congress neither charged interest nor secured the loan, which was sold for just ₹50 lakhs.

The ED also mentioned that AJL received advertising funds under the directives of senior Congress leaders. Any income generated from this fraudulent company is considered proceeds of crime. During a previous hearing on May 21, the ED stated that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi allegedly benefited from ₹142 crores linked to the National Herald money laundering case. The anti-money laundering agency has filed a prosecution complaint against the Gandhi family and other senior Congress leaders in connection with this case, which includes names like Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey.