The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday grilled Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi for the consecutive second day. She was questioned for six hours, in two sessions, a day before by ED officials in connection with the Nationals Herald money laundering case. Sonia was questioned for two and a half hours earlier on 21 July. The ED has issued no fresh summons to Sonia, however.
Meanwhile, addressing a joint press conference in Delhi, senior Congress leaders accused the ED of creating terror in the country. Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said, “The ED is creating drama in the country. First, they summoned Rahul Gandhi. He was interrogated for several hours in five days. Sonia Gandhi has been summoned for the third time today. We have no idea how long it would last. The ED has created terror.” Gehlot said that ED has become more powerful than CBI despite having a less than 5 per cent success rate.
Gehlot further said that the government was misusing the agency to dislodge elected governments, as Maharashtra saw recently. “The ED is being used to bring down governments as you saw in Maharashtra, but ED can’t set the cabinet which is evident from the situation in Maharashtra. You can see where democracy is going,” Gehlot added.
Senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jairam Ramesh and Anand Sharma were also present in the press conference.
Citing Sonia’s old age and ill-health, Azad said, “I don’t understand why the ED is calling Sonia Gandhi again and again. She is old and has not been keeping well. When the ED has already questioned Rahul Gandhi then what is the need to call Sonia ji. This is not right when all the papers are there with the ED.”
The senior Congress leader reached the ED office accompanied by her daughter Priyanka for questioning, while Congress workers protested at AICC headquarters in Delhi against the ED action against the Gandhis.
According to sources in the ED, the central agency asked questions on two important aspects of the case: financial transactions between AJL and Young Indian and personal benefits from Young Indian. Sonia told the ED that all finance-related matters of both companies were handled by late Moti Lal Vora, who was then the treasurer of AICC.
With regard to Young Indian, she said the company was a non-profit entity incorporated under Section 25 of the Companies Act, which meant no person could take personal benefit out if its operations. Interestingly, Rahul and others had also provided the same answers.
