Premium

This Words Means: National Herald

Every day, 500 words on a word (or expression) that has appeared in The Indian Express

Jawaharlal Nehru established The National Herald newspaper in 1938.

Why now?

The Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet against seven persons, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, in connection with its money laundering probe in the National Herald case.

While the chargesheet was filed in a special PMLA court on April 9, Special Judge Vishal Gogne on Tuesday examined it on the point of cognizance and posted the matter for April 25.

“A fresh prosecution complaint under Sections 44 and 45 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, for commission of offence of money laundering as defined under Section 3 read with Section 70 and punishable under Section 4 of PMLA, 2002, filed by the ED, has been received by way of assignment,” Special Judge Gogne said on Tuesday.

Story continues below this ad

What is the case?

The ED case is based on a trial court order that allowed the Income Tax Department to probe the affairs of National Herald newspaper and conduct a tax assessment of Sonia and Rahul. The order was the result of a petition filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Swamy’s complaint had alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds on the part of the Gandhis in acquiring the newspaper. Swami had alleged that the Gandhis acquired properties owned by National Herald by buying the newspaper’s publishers, The Associated Journals Limited (AJL), through an organisation called Young Indian (YI) in which they have a majority stake.

It has been alleged that YI acquired AJL and its assets for a “a mere Rs 50 lakh”, although the properties were valued at over Rs 2,000 crore, against an alleged loan extended by the Congress party.

Besides Sonia and Rahul, the ED chargesheet also names Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, Sunil Bhandari, M/s Young India, and M/s Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd. Sources said the ED has pegged the current market value of the assets linked to the money laundering case at Rs 5,000 crore.

Story continues below this ad

What is the National Herald?

Jawaharlal Nehru established The National Herald newspaper in 1938. It was published by AJL, a Section 25 company, which is generally a not-for-profit entity. AJL also published the Qaumi Awaz in Urdu, and Navjeevan in Hindi.

The company owns prime real estate in various cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Patna, and Panchkula. Plagued by overstaffing and a lack of revenue, AJL ran into losses and stopped publishing in April 2008.

After the publication of the newspaper was suspended, the income of AJL came mainly from exploitation of various properties held by it. One of its key properties was situated at 5A Herald House, Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the All India Congress Committee (AICC), which is the apex body of Indian National Congress, gave the company unsecured, interest-free loans for a few years up to 2010.