NEW DELHI — Senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have submitted a detailed written submission before the Delhi High Court in the National Herald money laundering case, alleging that actions by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are driven by “extraneous considerations.”
The submission, presented before Justice Sachin Datta, challenges the maintainability of the ED’s appeal against a trial court order that refused to take cognizance of the agency’s prosecution complaint, with the High Court adjourning further proceedings to October 12, 2026.
Core Legal Arguments & Procedural Objections
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Basis of ECIR Registration: The Gandhis argued that the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on June 30, 2021, solely based on a 2014 private complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy, rather than an official FIR for a scheduled/predicate offense.
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Departure from Statutory Precedent: Contended that the ED’s procedure violates established Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) provisions and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, which mandate an underlying predicate offense FIR to initiate money laundering proceedings.
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Seven-Year Investigation Gap: Highlighted the seven-year delay between the initial 2014 private complaint and the 2021 ECIR registration as evidence that the agency originally deemed a private complaint legally insufficient for PMLA action.
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Trial Court Rejection: Noted that the trial court refused to take cognizance of the ED’s prosecution complaint, ruling that PMLA proceedings cannot be initiated without an underlying police FIR.
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Allegations of Administrative Haste: Questioned the maintainsability of the ED’s High Court appeal, citing the agency’s immediate filing of a challenge following the trial court’s order as demonstrating “extraordinary interest” and “undue haste.”
