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Besides Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the FIR names Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd and its promoter Sunil Bhandari, AJL and unidentified others.

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Delhi Police have registered a fresh First Information Report (FIR) against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi following a complaint from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) linked to its money-laundering probe into the National Herald newspaper, according to people familiar with the development.

The FIR, lodged by the Economic Offences Wing on October 3 under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, comes six months after the ED filed a chargesheet naming the two leaders and five others. The complaint, filed by ED Assistant Director Shiv Kumar Gupta, alleges that government properties allotted at concessional rates to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) for public welfare activities were diverted “for personal gain”.

The police have invoked sections related to cheating, criminal conspiracy, dishonest misappropriation of property and criminal breach of trust. Besides Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the FIR names Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd and its promoter Sunil Bhandari, AJL and unidentified others.

According to the ED, Young Indian – a company controlled by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi – “fraudulently acquired” AJL properties valued at more than Rs 2,000 crore for “a paltry sum” of Rs 50 lakh. The complaint alleges that the accused exploited these assets by collecting “bogus rents” and generating “fake revenue” through sham advertisements to launder illicit funds.

The FIR was registered under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which allows the ED to share evidence to facilitate the filing of predicate offences.

The Congress strongly criticised the move, calling it “vendetta politics” by the Narendra Modi government. Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X that the “Modi-Shah duo” was continuing its campaign of “harassment, intimidation and vendetta” against the party’s leadership, asserting that the case was “completely bogus” and that “justice will ultimately triumph”.

The National Herald, founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, suspended operations in 2008 after accumulating debts of over Rs 90 crore. In 2012, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleged that the Gandhis set up Young Indian to take over AJL’s debt using Congress funds—an allegation the party has consistently denied.