ED begins possession of assets in Cong-linked National Herald case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated proceedings to take possession of properties linked to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case. On Friday, April 11, the central probe agency issued notices to property registrars in Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow, where the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), -- acquired by Young Indian Limited (YIL), a company beneficially owned by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi-are located.The action has been taken under Section 8 and Rule 5(1) of the PML Act under which, the agency has issued notices to take possession of immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore that it had attached in a probe into the money laundering case against Congress-controlled Associated Journals Limited (AJL).
The federal probe agency said in a statement that it has affixed the notices at three places on Friday. These are the Herald House located in Delhi at ITO, at the premises in Bandra area of Mumbai, and the AJL building located at Bisheshwar Nath Road in Lucknow. The notices seek vacation of the Delhi and Lucknow premises. For the Mumbai building, the company has an option of transferring of rent to the ED, news agency PTI reported.The ED case of money laundering is against AJL and its holding company, Young Indian. The National Herald is published by AJL and owned by Young Indian Private Limited. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are majority shareholders of Young Indian, with 38 percent shares held by each of them.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who filed the initial complaint, alleges that Young Indian took over AJL’s assets in a "malicious manner" to gain control of properties worth over Rs 2,000 crore.According to the ED, the attachment follows investigations that revealed the alleged laundering of proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 988 crore, linked to AJL's assets. The proceedings were initiated after an Adjudicating Authority recently confirmed the earlier provisional attachment of the properties.

ED initiates proceedings under PMLA to take possession of properties in the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) money laundering case. Notices served to property registrars in Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow on April 11, 2025 pic.twitter.com/tikRvpIQF1

— IANS (@ians_india) April 12, 2025

In November 2023, the ED had provisionally attached immovable properties in Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow -- valued at Rs 661 crore -- along with AJL shares worth Rs 90.2 crore. This attachment was confirmed on April 10. The agency alleges that the assets were illegally acquired and laundered through a complex political-financial nexus involving the Congress leadership.