New Delhi, April 12: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has issued possession notices for immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore linked to the Congress-backed National Herald and Associated Journals Limited (AJL), marking a significant step in its money-laundering investigation.
The federal agency said it served notices to registrars and affixed them at visible spots at Herald House in Delhi, a Bandra (East) property in Mumbai, and AJL’s building on Bisheshwar Nath Road in Lucknow on Friday. The notices seek vacation of the premises for takeover.
One of the notices was also directed to Jindal South West Projects Limited, which occupies multiple floors in the Mumbai property. The firm has been told to redirect lease payments to the ED going forward.
The seizure comes under Section 8 and Rule 5(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which allows ED to take possession of assets once their attachment is confirmed by the adjudicating authority. The assets, attached in November 2023, include AJL shares worth Rs 90.2 crore. The total alleged proceeds of crime, according to the ED, stand at Rs 988 crore.
The probe originates from a 2014 complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, which alleged a criminal conspiracy involving top Congress figures—including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi—in the fraudulent acquisition of AJL properties worth over Rs 2,000 crore through their private firm Young Indian.
Both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court allowed the investigation to continue despite legal challenges. The Congress has repeatedly called the probe a “political vendetta,” accusing the ED of acting as a “BJP coalition partner.”
According to the ED, Young Indian acquired AJL’s assets for just Rs 50 lakh and misused them to generate further illegal funds through bogus donations, advance rents, and inflated advertisements. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each hold 38% shares in Young Indian. The two were earlier questioned at length by the ED during the course of the probe.
