The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached the Delhi High Court challenging a trial court order that declined to take cognisance of its money laundering complaint in the National Herald case involving Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. The appeal, likely to be listed next week, reopens a high-stakes legal battle with major political and enforcement implications under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The challenge targets a December 16 order passed by a Special Judge at Rouse Avenue Courts, which held that the ED’s prosecution complaint was legally untenable as it was not anchored to an FIR relating to a scheduled offence under the PMLA. The trial court noted that the money laundering proceedings stemmed from a cognisance and summoning order in a private complaint filed by Dr. Subramanian Swamy under Section 200 of the CrPC, rather than from a police case triggering PMLA jurisdiction.
Despite this setback, the ED pressed ahead by filing a fresh complaint under Sections 44 and 45 of the PMLA, accusing the Gandhis of laundering proceeds linked to the takeover of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by Young Indian Private Limited (YIL).
In its impugned order, the trial court underscored that PMLA proceedings must originate from a scheduled offence, observing in substance that the prosecution complaint “was not founded on an FIR relating to a scheduled offence.” This absence, the court held, struck at the very maintainability of the case. The ED has now urged the High Court to overturn this finding, arguing that its complaint satisfies the statutory threshold for initiating money laundering prosecution.
The High Court’s intervention will determine whether the trial court’s refusal to take cognisance stands or whether the case is revived for further proceedings.
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