New Delhi, 17 December (H.S.):

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday proclaimed the Delhi court's refusal to take cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) chargesheet in the National Herald money laundering case as a resounding victory for justice and truth.

Kharge's Scathing Indictment of Political Persecution

Addressing a press conference at his Delhi residence, Kharge welcomed the judicial verdict while accusing the BJP government of weaponizing central agencies like the CBI and ED against opposition leaders, particularly the Gandhi family.

He characterized the protracted National Herald probe—initiated in 1938 by freedom fighters—as a fabricated vendetta devoid of substance, engineered solely to harass Congress stalwarts through relentless interrogations and asset seizures over years.

Kharge emphasized that no predicate offense underlay the allegations, rendering the ED's actions a blatant misuse of constitutional institutions to tarnish a historic publication synonymous with India's independence struggle.

Singvi Exposes Legal Frailties and Agency Overreach

Senior advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singvi buttressed the narrative, branding the case as not merely malice-driven but legally feeble and procedurally lax.

Stemming from Subramanian Swamy's private complaint in 2014, CBI and ED records explicitly acknowledged the absence of any predicate offense until June 2021, when an ECIR was abruptly filed amid purported political pressure.

From 2021 to 2025, luminaries including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Kharge endured nearly 90 hours of questioning, with properties attached, accounts frozen, and even rental incomes halted—measures the court ultimately deemed baseless for want of foundational criminality.

Singvi underscored that no funds were misappropriated, nor ownership altered; Associated Journals Limited retains all immovable assets, while Young Indian operates as a non-profit entity prohibiting personal gains, salaries, or profits.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar