ANIThe 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.
"The AJL MoA said that the policy of AJL will be the policy of the INC. All through, AJL did not have profits. In the post-independence period, it was never a commercial institution. We (All India Congress Committee) were trying to retrieve an institution which is part of the freedom movement heritage. The problem was not recovering the loan (given to AJL); the problem was to revive it, to see that it comes back on the rails. AICC was not looking for profit from sales. This is a squinted version," Cheema said.
Citing various allegations and raising objections, the senior advocate quoted Urdu poet Wasim Barelvi's: 'Wo jhoot bol raha tha bade saleeke se, main yakeen na karta, to kya karta (How could I not believe his astute lies?), eliciting laughter in the jam-packed court. Cheema said that in the present case, the court had to respond to a situation where the ED had selected and acted upon a private complaint by Subramanian Swamy. Noting that ED had alleged the proceeds of crime being enjoyed, the senior advocate said, "Enjoyed is a rich word they have used. Not a penny was being used."
He said that it was the AJL which was engaged in the development of commercial spaces, besides being entitled to the rent.
Regarding the allegations against the All India Congress Committee, Cheema said that the ED had not highlighted the fact that AICC was a huge body having a large number of members.
He said that there was no factual basis to the allegation that in 2008, AJL had closed the publication of the newspaper and instead started acting as a real estate company.
The senior advocate said that ED made "unwarranted inferences" against Rahul Gandhi by wrongly assuming that he was the person in charge of the affairs of the AICC as its general secretary in 2010.
He said that according to the constitution of the Congress party, no general secretary could be held in charge of its affairs. Cheema cited the constitution, as per which, there were several general secretaries of the AICC at a point in time.
Similarly, Cheema said, Sonia Gandhi, the then AICC President, had been wrongly inferred as the "person in charge" of the AICC when the loan had been assigned to AJL.
Cheema also objected to the ED allegations that Young Indian, despite being a not-for-profit company, was not engaged in charitable activities.
"What is the concept of charity? Giving food, and alms is what they think is charitable. Nothing else?" he said.
Regarding the properties of AJL being usurped, the senior advocate said, "These are crude lies. We got that. What case are we looking at?... 750 crores, 2000 crores, 5000 crores, the ED has alleged. To quote Mark Twain: Lies. Damned lies. Statistics. I conclude," Cheema said.
The arguments would continue against the other accused on Monday.
The ED alleges the Gandhis held a majority 76 per cent share in Young Indian, which fraudulently usurped the assets of AJL in exchange for a Rs 90 crore loan.
Earlier, on Friday, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi concluded his arguments on behalf of Sonia Gandhi.
On July 3, Raju argued on the point of the chargesheet's cognisance, saying the Gandhis were the "beneficial owners" of Young Indian and acquired total control after the death of other shareholders.
The ED filed its chargesheet against the Gandhis and others under Sections 3 (money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The chargesheet also names Dubey, Pitroda, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Private Limited.
