National Herald case: AICC attempted to revive AJL, Cheema tells court

Senior advocate R S Cheema, representing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday argued that the AICC was not trying to sell the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) but rather attempting to save the institution which was part of the freedom movement.

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Cheema, in his arguments before Special Judge Vishal Gogne, quoted Mark Twain and Urdu poet Wasim Barelvi to drive home his rebuttal against the Enforcement Directorate's (EDs) allegations.

The federal agency has accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, as well as Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and a private company, Young Indian, of conspiracy and money laundering over the fraudulent takeover of properties valued at over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which published the National Herald newspaper.

"Can my friend (ED counsel) tell me why they were shy about placing the Memorandum of Association (MoA) of AJL? AJL was established in 1937 by Jawaharlal Nehru, J. B. Kripalani, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, and others," he said.