ED questions Pawan Bansal in National Herald case

In February, the Delhi High Court had sought the response of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi along with other accused in the case, writes Amit Agnihotri

New Delhi:The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday questioned senior Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper, officials said. On Monday, the probe agency had summoned party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge in the matter. In 2012, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint before the trial court.

In the complaint, Swamy had alleged that Congress leaders were involved in cheating and breach of trust in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL), as assets worth crores of rupees had been transferred to YIL. The allegations also said that YIL, which had Congress president Sonia Gandhi and then vice president Rahul Gandhi on its board of directors, had “taken over” the defunct newspaper and assets worth over Rs 2,000 crore, in a “malicious” manner to gain profit.

In February, the Delhi High Court had sought the response of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi along with other accused in the case. Swamy had also named former Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, general secretary Oscar Fernandes, journalist Suman Dubey and technocrat Sam Pitroda in the case. The court had sought the responses of these leaders by April 12. Bansal, who holds interim charge as Congress treasurer, is the Managing Director of AJL.