ED Moves to Seize Rs 661 Crore Worth of AJL Properties Linked to National Herald Case

New Delhi, April 12, 2025 — The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated the formal takeover of immovable assets worth Rs 661 crore tied to the National Herald case, escalating its probe into alleged money laundering involving Congress leaders.

In a statement issued Saturday, the ED said it had served possession notices to registrars of properties in Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow, and physically posted the same on buildings owned by the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), publisher of the National Herald newspaper. These include Herald House on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi, a property in Bandra East, Mumbai, and another in Bisheshwar Nath Road, Lucknow.

A separate notice has also been served to Jindal South West Projects Limited, a tenant in the Mumbai building, directing it to transfer rent payments directly to the Enforcement Directorate each month.

The agency’s move comes under Section 8 and Rule 5(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which permits ED to take possession of assets already attached and confirmed by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority. The assets were provisionally attached in November 2023 to prevent alleged proceeds of crime from being dissipated. The adjudicating body had upheld the attachment order in April 2024.

The ED pegged the total proceeds of crime at Rs 988 crore in this politically sensitive case.

The investigation began in 2021 after Delhi’s Patiala House Court took cognisance of a complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in 2014. The complaint accused Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, among others, of conspiring to fraudulently acquire AJL’s assets — valued at over Rs 2,000 crore — through Young Indian Private Limited for just Rs 50 lakh.

Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, each holding 38% of Young Indian, were earlier questioned by the ED in connection with the case. The ED alleges that Young Indian generated further illegal income through bogus donations, inflated rent advances, and fake advertising revenue totaling over Rs 85 crore.

While the Congress has slammed the action as “petty vendetta” and called the ED a “coalition partner of BJP,” courts have so far allowed the investigation to continue, with both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court refusing to intervene.