00:00After the ED filed its charge sheet in the National Herald case,
00:03it's also leveled grave allegations against Rahul and Sonia Gandhi,
00:07claiming 142 crores of proceeds of crime were used for personal gain.
00:11Let's break down all the details of the case for you.
00:14Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi face charges of money laundering.
00:18This is in a 10-year-old case filed against them by the ED,
00:22based on a complaint by Subramanian Swami.
00:24It pertains to the sale of the National Herald newspaper
00:27to a company owned by the Gandhis.
00:30And the ED is currently probing the shareholding pattern,
00:33the financial transactions and the role of party functionaries.
00:37So let's begin by telling you about National Herald.
00:40The National Herald was a newspaper that was founded by Jawaharlal Nehru
00:44along with other freedom fighters back in 1938.
00:48It was meant to voice the concerns of the Liberal Brigade in the Indian National Congress.
00:54Published by Associated Journals Limited or AJL,
00:57this newspaper became essentially a mouthpiece of the Congress Party after independence.
01:02But in 2008, the paper closed down with a debt of over 90 crores.
01:07Now here's where it gets interesting.
01:09The AJL, as I mentioned, is Associated Journals Limited,
01:12got a loan of 90 crores from the Congress Party.
01:16And this was a zero interest loan, repeatedly to revive the National Herald.
01:22Enter Young India Limited, a company that was set up in 2010 with Rahul Gandhi as a director.
01:29So while Rahul and his mother Sonia Gandhi hold 76% of the company's shares,
01:34the remaining 24% are held by Congress leaders Motilal Vohra and Oscar Fernandez.
01:41So Young India bought National Herald from AJL.
01:44And it is this deal that's under the scanner.
01:47Why?
01:48Well, Young India Limited took over National Herald,
01:51which also meant assets worth a whopping 2,000 crore plus.
01:55And Young India Limited only curiously paid 50 lakhs to obtain the rights
02:01to recover 90.25 crores, which AJL owed the Congress Party.
02:07So essentially, if I were to simplify that,
02:09the loan given by Congress had been transferred to a company owned by the Gandhis.
02:14Public money converted to personal use.
02:17And that's why on 1st November 2012,
02:20Subramanian Swami filed a private complaint in a court in Delhi,
02:23alleging that both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have committed fraud
02:27and land grabbing, worth 160 crores,
02:30referring to the assets of AJL.
02:32He claimed that through this fraud,
02:34they had got the publication rights of the National Herald,
02:36along with real estate properties in Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh.
02:40On 7th December 2015,
03:01the Delhi High Court ordered Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and five others
03:05to appear in person before the trial court on 9th December,
03:09which they ignored.
03:10The Gandhis didn't turn up,
03:11but a trial court then ordered them to appear in person on 19th December.
03:16Rahul and Sonia finally appeared in court and they were granted bail.
03:20Years later, in 2022,
03:27Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were questioned for several days in the case.
03:31Rahul Gandhi was questioned for nearly 55 hours by the CBI and the ED
03:36over the alleged corruption and financial irregularities involving this newspaper.
03:41100% political vendetta,
03:45pure political vendetta coming out of the PM office.
03:47This is what this is.
03:49This is their way of doing politics.
03:51Pure 100% vendetta.
03:53Full faith.
03:54I have full faith in the legal system of this country.
03:57The ED is now moving forward swiftly with its probe.
04:01On April 12th,
04:02the ED served notices to take possession of immovable assets
04:05worth 661 crores in Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow.
04:09It had attached some of these properties as part of the money laundering probe.
04:14With the charge sheet being filed now,
04:16it paves the way for a trial against Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
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