Picture : ANI/X
In a relief to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and five others, a Delhi court has refused to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering charge against them in the National Herald case, holding that the agency’s probe stemmed from a private complaint and not an first information report (FIR).
Delivering his order in a case that was marked by political slugfest and legal battles for several years, Special Judge Vishal Gogne said the cognisance of the ED’s prosecution complaint relating to the offence of money laundering was ‘impermissible in law’.
The ED complaint was based on an investigation into a complaint by private person Subramanian Swamy and not on an FIR of a predicate offence, the judge said.
The court said it has now become premature and imprudent for it to decide the submissions made by the ED as well as the proposed accused in relation to the merits of the allegations, especially so when cognisance is liable to be declined on a ‘pure question of law’.
“Other arguments possibly live to fight another day.”
Satyamev Jayate 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/fLkPJfRBsI
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 16, 2025
ED officials said the probe agency may file an appeal against the court’s order after taking opinion from law officers, including Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
With court proceedings not moving to the trial stage for now, the officials said the agency will file a fresh charge sheet against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi apart from others as it has taken cognisance of the latest Delhi Police FIR filed in the National Herald money laundering case on October 3 this year.
Reacting to the order, the Congress claimed that the ‘illegality’ of the Narendra Modi government and its ‘politically motivated prosecution stands fully exposed’.
In a statement, the Congress said the ED’s proceedings against Congress leadership — Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi — in the case have been found to be ‘completely illegal and mala fide’ by the court.
“Truth has prevailed, and truth will always prevail,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera and Mohammed Khan told a joint press conference.
Congress prtesident Mallikarjun Kharge in post in Hindi on X wrote
जब नेशनल हेराल्ड, कांग्रेस पार्टी और हमारे नेताओं को बदनाम करने के लिए झूठे आरोप लगाए गए, तब भी मैंने यही कहा था कि हम अंग्रेज़ों से नहीं डरे तो BJP-RSS या मोदी-शाह क्या चीज़ हैं।
आज कोर्ट ने भी मोदी सरकार की कार्रवाई को अवैध ठहराकर राजनीतिक बदले की दुर्भावना से रची ये साज़िश…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) December 16, 2025
