Delhi: Chidambaram slams ED over action in National Herald case

Former Union Minister and Congress MP P Chidambaram on Monday hit out at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for filing chargesheet in the National Herald case, calling it a “politically motivated” move targeting Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

He was addressing a press conference at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office alongside DPCC president Devender Yadav and other senior party leaders.

Chidambaram said the National Herald, Navjivan and Qaumi Awaz were “symbols of the freedom struggle” and that every Indian had a duty to protect them. He explained that Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the publisher of these newspapers, were financially ailing when the Congress party stepped in between 2002 and 2011 to provide Rs 90 crore in financial support through cheques.

To restructure AJL’s debt, the Congress formed Young Indian (YI) in 2010 as a not-for-profit company, which took over the debt for Rs 50 lakh and later converted it into equity. “This is a common restructuring method used even by the Government of India such as in the case of Vodafone,” Chidambaram said.

He questioned the very basis of the ED’s PMLA case, pointing out that no monetary transaction or profit was involved and therefore there were “no proceeds of crime”. He also clarified that YI had never distributed profits or dividends.