Modi accused of political vendetta against Gandhis

The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has been accused of engaging in a political vendetta after India’s financial crime agency named leading opposition figures in a money laundering case.

- NAMITA SINGH

The Enforcement Directorate named Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, both senior figures in the main opposition Congress party, in a charge sheet filed before a Delhi court on 9 April.

The court examined the charge sheet on Tuesday and ordered the matter be scheduled for a further hearing on 25 April.

The agency has accused the Gandhis of forming a shell company to illegally take control of property worth about £226m from a company that published the newspaper National Herald. They have previously denied any wrongdoing.

The agency also questioned Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra in a separate case related to alleged irregularities in land deals dating back to 2008, when a coalition led by the Congress party ruled India.

“There’s nothing in the case,” Mr Vadra told reporters before visiting the agency’s office. “Whenever I speak for minorities or think about joining politics, they misuse the authorities.”

As part of its investigation into the money laundering case against