New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has postponed the hearing on the ED’s petition challenging the trial court’s order refusing to take cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the ED in the money laundering case related to the National Herald. A bench of Justice Swarn Kanta Sharma scheduled the next hearing for April 20.
The ED challenged the trial court’s order of December 16, 2025. The High Court, while hearing the ED’s petition, issued notices to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with other accused, on December 22. In fact, on December 16, 2025, the Rouse Avenue Court had refused to take cognizance of the ED’s charge sheet against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The Rouse Avenue Court had stated that cognizance of the ED’s charge sheet cannot be based on a private complaint.
During the trial court hearing, the ED had stated that people who donated to the Congress party had been defrauded. The ED stated that tickets were given to some of those who donated. ASG SV Raju challenged the Gandhi family’s argument that they had no control over Associated Journals Limited (AJL). He stated that AJL was originally the publisher of National Herald.
Senior lawyer RS Cheema, representing Rahul Gandhi in this case, argued that Congress did not attempt to sell AJL but rather wanted to save the organization because it was part of the freedom movement. Cheema questioned why the ED was not producing AJL’s memorandum of association. AJL was founded in 1937 by Jawaharlal Nehru, JB Kripalani, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, and other Congress leaders. AJL’s memorandum of association states that all its policies will be those of the Congress.
