The legal troubles for Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case do not appear to be ending anytime soon. The Delhi High Court has issued notices to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and all other accused, seeking their responses to a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging a lower court’s order. The case was heard by Justice Ravinder Dudeja. The court issued notices to all parties and scheduled the next hearing for March 7, 2026.
The ED has challenged the trial court’s order refusing to take cognizance of the case in the High Court. The ED argues that the lower court did not correctly interpret the law and ignored the facts related to money laundering. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the ED, while senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for the Gandhi family.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued in court that cognizance taken on a private complaint rests on a much stronger legal foundation than that based on an FIR. He stated that the cognizance of the scheduled offense, which forms the basis of the money laundering case, has been upheld by the Supreme Court, and therefore, the trial court’s refusal to take cognizance is a legal error. The ED also maintains that there is sufficient prima facie evidence of money laundering in the National Herald case, which the lower court failed to properly examine.
