Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, questioned for 40 hours over four days, left the Enforcement Directorate office after midnight on Monday and has again been summoned to appear before the agency on Tuesday.
Rahul arrived at the ED headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi at 11.05am on Monday for the fourth day of questioning in the National Herald case. He went out for an hour in the afternoon and was back at 4.45pm. Rahul left the ED office after 12.30am, after 12 hours of questioning.
The first round of questioning was on June 13. The fourth round would have been on Friday, but Rahul asked for it to be deferred so that he could spend time with his mother Sonia Gandhi, who was in hospital. She was discharged on Monday.
The Congress has been protesting against the ED action, which it sees as vendetta by the Narendra Modi government.
The BJP has countered that Modi too was questioned in the Gujarat riots case. When Modi was chief minister, at least 1,000 people were massacred, and he had faced nine hours of questioning.
Rahul is being questioned in what is called the National Herald case. The paper is owned by Young Indian Private Limited, in which the MP is a shareholder.
The ED has filed a money-laundering case and is understood to be asking Rahul about the incorporation of the Young Indian, operations of the National Herald, the loan given by the party to the newspaper’s publisher Associated Journals Limited (AJL), and the transfer of funds within the news media establishment.
The Congress has accused the BJP-led Centre of targeting the opposition leaders by "misusing" investigative agencies and has termed the entire action "political vendetta".
The questions put to Gandhi, the sources indicated, cover a period starting from 2011 when Young Indian Private Limited was incorporated. It has also been learnt that the questions cover the changes that took place in the shareholding pattern of the company thereafter, the procedures followed, and the salaries and VRS were given to journalists working in the organisation among other issues.
The Congress has denied any wrongdoing, pointing out that Young Indian Private Limited is a non-profit company.
