New Delhi, 11/4: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was on Monday questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering probe in the National Herald case.
Kharge, who has never shied away from targeting the ruling BJP on issues, was issued a summons earlier to appear before the agency to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said.
The investigations in the National Herald corruption case, which is linked to the Congress and the Gandhis, came following accusations of cheating, conspiracy and criminal breach of trust in the acquisition of the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which ran the Congress mouthpiece National Herald, by Young Indian Pvt. Ltd.
The AJL, which was facing financial issues, was taken over by a newly-floated company YIL with Gandhi loyalists Suman Dubey and technocrat Sam Pitroda as directors.
BJP’s Subramanian Swamy had petitioned the Delhi High Court in 2010 accusing Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying only Rs 50 lakh through which YIL obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that Associate Journals Ltd owed to the Congress.
Seven accused in the case – late Motilal Vora, late Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and YI and the Gandhis – had earlier denied accusations against them.
After his death, Kharge took over the position of Vora in AJL.