Senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been issued a notice by the Delhi High Court in the National Herald money laundering case.
The Delhi HC issued the notice while hearing a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging a trial court order. The matter has been listed for further hearing on March 12, 2026.
The ED contested a recent decision of the Rouse Avenue court, which refused to take cognisance of the agency’s prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Representing the ED, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the trial court to appreciate that cognisance had already been taken in the National Herald matter on a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, and that subsequent challenges to it were rejected by the SC.
Mehta submitted that limiting money laundering cases only to instances where an FIR is registered would weaken the PMLA, noting that some scheduled offences are non-cognisable.
He said a court taking cognisance of a private complaint has higher legal standing than an FIR.
Earlier, the trial court had held that a PMLA prosecution must be based on a scheduled offence registered by a law enforcement agency. The ED maintains that the order is legally flawed.
The agency has accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi of illegally acquiring assets linked to Associated Journals Ltd, which published the National Herald newspaper.
