ED Moves Delhi High Court Against Dismissal of PMLA Case in National Herald Matter

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached the Delhi High Court against a trial court decision that dismissed its money laundering complaint against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others in the National Herald case.

The ED has filed a criminal revision petition, which is expected to be heard next week. Earlier, on December 16, a special court at Rouse Avenue Court rejected the ED’s complaint. The trial court held that a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot continue unless it is based on a registered FIR for a scheduled offence.

The court noted that the case originated from a private complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy and not from an FIR registered by a law enforcement agency. On this basis, the court ruled that the ED’s complaint was not legally maintainable.

Challenging this finding, the ED has argued that the trial court’s reasoning is legally incorrect. According to the agency, once a court has taken cognisance of a private complaint and the same has been upheld up to the Supreme Court, it should be treated on a stronger footing than a mere FIR. The ED has also claimed that the trial court’s order effectively rewrites provisions of the PMLA, which is not permissible.

The National Herald case relates to allegations of illegal transfer of assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald newspaper, to a company called Young Indian. The ED claims these assets are worth over ₹2,000 crore. The Congress leaders, however, have denied all allegations and maintained that there was no laundering of proceeds of crime.