Gandhi family accused of money laundering
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Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader of India's Congress party, appeared before a government agency for the fifth time on Tuesday on corruption charges.
Rahul Gandhi visited the office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi, which investigates financial crimes, three times last week amid protests by members of his party. He has been interrogated for more than 40 hours in the last few days.
Congress leaders allege that Rahul Gandhi is being deliberately harassed and will continue their protest against him. On Monday, party leaders met with President Ram Nath Kavand to protest the police 'aggressive' action against party workers during the protest.
The ED has summoned Rahul Gandhi and his mother Congress party president Sonia Gandhi to explain the money laundering allegations known as the National Herald case.
The agency has ordered Sonia Gandhi to appear for questioning on June 23.
The case was filed by Subramanian Swamy, a politician from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He accused the Gandhi family of misusing party funds to buy a company that published the National Herald daily.
Gandhi denies any financial irregularities.
What are the allegations against the Congress?
Sabra Manim Swamy had brought this case against the Gandhi family in a trial court in 2012.
He alleged that the Gandhi family used Congress party funds and seized the AJL in an attempt to acquire more than Rs 20 billion worth of assets.
At the time of the closure of the National Herald in 2008, the AJL owed Congress a debt of Rs. 900 million.
In 2010, Congress assigned the loan to Young India Pvt. Ltd., a non-profit company that was formed a few months ago. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are on its board of directors and each of them has a 38% stake in the company.
The remaining 24 per cent are owned by Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, journalist Saman Dubey and businessman Sam Petroda. Their names are also included in the case.
Mr Swamy alleged that the Gandhi family had used the funds to "seize" assets worth millions in a "malicious" manner. The leader alleged that Young India had gained complete control over AJL and its properties in Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai and other cities.
What does Congress have to say?
The Congress says that this is a strange case of money laundering in which there is no money or money at all. The Congress has accused the BJP of seeking "political revenge".
It said the Congress, which has ruled the country for the longest period since independence, would not back down and would fight against it.
The party says Congress granted bail to Herald Publisher AJL when it ran into financial difficulties because it believed in its historical legacy. Over time, Congress lent the AJL about Rs. 900 million.
The party says AJL's debts ended in 2010 when it converted its debt into equity, and shares were transferred to a new company, Young India Private Limited.
The Congress says Young India is a "non-profit company" and its shareholders and directors have not been given any profit.
The party says AJL is "the owner, printer and publisher of the National Herald and there has been no change or transfer of property."
Party spokesperson Abhishek Mano Singhvi said that by targeting the National Herald, the BJP was disrespecting the country's freedom fighters, the nation's honorable leaders and their sacrifices in the freedom struggle and their services to the nation.
He also accused the government of using the ED and other federal law enforcement agencies to harass its political opponents.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP government has been widely accused of using government agencies to target its critics.
What is the National Herald?
The National Herald was started in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi's great-grandfather.
The newspaper was published by the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) which was founded in 1937 and had 5,000 freedom fighters as its shareholders. The company published two other dailies, Qaumi Awaaz in Urdu and Nojivan in Hindi.
The newspaper was shaped by the most influential leaders of its time and the National Herald's identity became associated with India's struggle for independence, earning it the reputation of being the country's greatest nationalist newspaper.
The newspaper's harsh and fiery statement was editorial style. Jawaharlal Nehru used to write columns with harsh words. It was banned by the British government in 1942, forcing the newspaper to close. But the paper was relaunched three years later.
After the partition of India in 1947, Nehru resigned as chairman of the newspaper's board after taking over as prime minister.
But the Congress party continued to play an important role in shaping the ideology of the newspaper. In a message to the National Herald on its Silver Jubilee in 1963, Nehru spoke of the newspaper, which spoke of maintaining "an independent view" in favor of congressional policy.
The National Herald became one of the leading English language dailies under the auspices of some of the best journalists in India until the newspaper was funded by the Congress party.