National Herald case | Sonia, Rahul created Young Indian firm to siphon off `2,000 cr from AJL: ED to court

“…A company by the name of AJL…was not making profit but it had assets worth Rs 2,000 crores. How come they didn’t have 90 crores to repay the loan? Any prudent person would’ve sold their assets to repay the loans,” said Raju.

“This is absurd and can never be explained… The conspiracy was the creation of Young Indian to siphon away Rs 2,000 crores in exchange for a Rs 90 crore loan… Sonia and Rahul Gandhi wanted to take over this Rs 2,000 crore company,” he said.

Raju, who was accompanied by Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain and Special Public Prosecutor NK Matta, told the court that within six days of Rahul’s appointment as the director of Young Indian, it sent a letter to AJL to repay the loan or convert it into equity.

Judge Gogne asked Raju, “What if the Congress wrote off the loan of AJL? Banks do this all the time. Also, if Congress wrote off the loan but they have not been made not an accused?… How is this such a peculiarity that makes the ED want to investigate it? Public sector banks are writing off crores of rupees.”

Raju responded that in case of banks, “they have no assets, so they have to enter into a compromise with the borrower”. “In this case, assets worth Rs 2,000 crores were available with AJL. Why did they give Rs 2,000 crores for such a small loan?” he argued.

Raju told the court that the Congress distanced itself from a direct transaction to avoid “creating ripples”. “The assets of AJL had value, even if the company was not income generating. If AICC would have done this directly, it would’ve created ripples. That’s why they distanced themselves from the transaction and created YI,” Raju said.

Judge Gogne then asked Raju that if it is shown that Congress were a part of AJL, “can it be said that Congress leaders entered the fray only to take over AJL?”. The ASG contended that AJL wasn’t acquired by Congress but by Young India. “And 76% of shares of YI are held by Sonia and Rahul…this is a conspiracy,” Raju said.

Judge Gogne will again hear the case Thursday on the point of consideration of the chargesheet.