New Delhi, December 19, 2025: The Enforcement Directorate has moved the Delhi High Court challenging a trial court decision that rejected its money-laundering complaint against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.
The financial investigation agency has filed a criminal revision petition, arguing that the trial court erred in law by holding the proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to be unsustainable. The matter is expected to be listed before the High Court next week.
On December 16, a special court at the Rouse Avenue complex had refused to take cognisance of the ED’s prosecution complaint, ruling that the case failed to meet the statutory requirements under the PMLA. Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne held that a money-laundering case could not be sustained when it was based on a private complaint rather than a police-registered case.
The trial court noted that the ED’s case stemmed from a complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and not from a First Information Report. It held that, in the absence of an FIR for a scheduled offence, the legal threshold for initiating proceedings under the PMLA was not met.
Emphasising the framework of the law, the court observed that offences under Section 3 of the PMLA, punishable under Section 4, can be investigated and prosecuted only when they are linked to a scheduled offence registered through an FIR. Since no such FIR existed in the present case, the prosecution complaint filed by the ED was found to be legally impermissible and was consequently dismissed.
Apart from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the ED has also named Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, Dotex Merchandise and Sunil Bhandari as accused in the case.
ED Approaches Delhi High Court Against Trial Court Order in National Herald Money Laundering Case
0 Comments 
