NEW DELHI: A day after sealing the office premises of the Sonia and Rahul Gandhi-owned Young Indian Ltd, the Enforcement Directorate searched it on Thursday even as the Opposition attacked the government over the alleged misuse of probe agencies to target political rivals.
The ED began its search after Young India Ltd office bearer Mallikarjun Kharge reached the Herald House building in the afternoon. It had summoned the 80-year-old Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha to be present during the duration of the searches.
Kharge’s presence was sought as he is the principal officer of the company. Under the rules, searches on-premises cannot be carried out in the absence of the owner of a property, his representatives or the person in charge.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the agency interrogated Kharge for hours.
“Kharge...has been undergoing interrogation...His ordeal is continuing,” he said while expressing his solidarity with him. In all, Kharge was questioned for over 8 hours.
Terming the summons to Kharge and his subsequent questioning during working hours of Parliament an “insult” to the legislature, the Congress alleged that “Modishahi” had reached a new low. The National Herald case pertains to alleged irregularities during its acquisition in 2010.
Earlier in the day, Kharge and Leader of the House (Rajya Sabha) Piyush Goyal clashed in the Upper House over the ED summons. Kharge raised the matter during Question Hour, saying the ED summons was an attempt to intimidate Congress but the party would not be cowed down.
“This House is functioning and I am the Leader of Opposition. I have received a summons from the ED to appear before it when a Parliament session is on. Is it fair?” he asked. “If we carry on like this, will our democracy remain alive? ” he added.
Rebutting the allegations, Goyal denied that the government interfered in the functioning of law enforcement agencies, adding Congress leaders should face the law.
The appearance of 80-year-old Kharge before the officials of Enforcement Directorate(ED) at the Herald House building and its action in the money laundering case linked to the Congress-owned newspaper also turned into a slugfest between the Congress and the BJP after the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha told the House during Question Hour he was summoned to appear at 12.30 PM.
Congress also raised the issue of ED action in both the Houses of Parliament and caused disruptions.
While Kharge, who was quizzed for over seven hours, alleged this was an attempt to "frighten and intimidate" the Congress and wondered if democracy would remain alive, his party said the ED summons during the working hours of Parliament was a "black chapter of democracy" and an "insult" to the legislature.
Union minister Piyush Goyal, who is the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, hit back and rejected Kharge's charge as "baseless".
He maintained that the government does not interfere in the functioning of law enforcement agencies, and asked the Congress leaders to face the law instead of running away.
Launching a scathing attack on the prime minister, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he is "not afraid of Narendra Modi" and will not be "intimidated" by the ED action in the National Herald case.
Rahul's attack drew a sharp response from the BJP which accused the Congress of trying to spread "anarchy" and "abusing and intimidating" the ED.
"Sonia Gandhi and Rahul should know that they are not above law.
The country is governed by the Constitution," BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.
Targeting the government, the Congress said Kharge's summoning by the ED during the working hours of Parliament was an "insult" to the legislature and alleged that "Modishahi" is reaching a new low.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Kharge was called by the probe agency when Parliament is in session and he left around 12:20 pm and presented himself.
"This is Modishahi reaching new lows," Ramesh tweeted.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh told reporters that summoning of the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha by a probe agency during Parliamentary proceedings had never happened in the history of democracy.
"There is no such example in the history of democracy," Singh said.
Kharge reached the Herald House building in the heart of the capital around 12:40 pm and met ED officials on the summons of the agency which sought his attendance during the searches at YI in his capacity of being the principal officer of the company.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the promoters and majority shareholders in Young Indian.
Like her son, the Congress president too has 38 per cent shareholding.
The federal agency had put a temporary seal at the single-room office of the YI, located on the ground floor of the four-storeyed Herald House building, to "preserve evidence" as it could not search it during the last two days because it was locked and authorised representatives were not available.
The searches at YI office which were on hold will be carried out now and any possible evidence available will be collected, officials said.
Rahul Gandhi's attack on the government came a day after the ED sealed the YI office and the Delhi police briefly barricaded the AICC office, the residence of Sonia Gandhi and his home.
"These are attempts at intimidation," he told reporters outside Parliament.
"We will not be intimidated. We are not afraid of Narendra Modi."
In his first response after the ED sealed the premises of Young Indian, Gandhi said, "They may do whatever they want. It does not matter. I will continue to work to protect the country and democracy and maintain harmony in the country. I will continue to do my work whatever they may do."
Later, in a tweet in Hindi he escalated his criticism of the government and the prime minister.
"Truth cannot be barricaded. Do whatever you want, I am not afraid of the Prime Minister, I will always work in the interest of the country. Listen and understand!" Many Congress leaders also gave adjournment notices in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but these were not allowed by the Chair.
Kharge also raised the issue in the Upper House, alleging the government was "misusing" agencies to target Opposition leaders and demanded answers from the government on the ED action.
Congress leaders also sought to raise the issue in the Lok Sabha in the morning but were not allowed and the House was adjourned till 2 PM.
The office of the National Herald newspaper and web portal, where the editorial staff and administrative staff works, is located on the fourth floor of the Herald House building.
The newspaper is published by Associated Journals Ltd.
(AJL) and its holding company is Young Indian.
The newspaper office is registered in the name of AJL.
The ED had on Tuesday launched raids at a dozen locations, including at the Herald House, as part of its ongoing money laundering probe in the National Herald-AJL-Young Indian deal.
Agency officials had left the premises in the early hours of Wednesday after they collected some documents, digital data and questioned some staffers.
The ED had questioned Sonia Gandhi in July and Rahul Gandhi in June in connection with the money laundering case at its headquarters in Delhi besides quizzing Kharge and Pawan Bansal in April.
As a mark of protest against the ED action in the case, besides other issues like price rise and GST hike, the Congress will march to Rashtrapati Bhawan and gherao the residence of the prime minister Friday morning.
The party's state units will hold similar protests across the country.
Raising in Rajya Sabha the issue of the ED summons to him during Parliament session, Kharge alleged it was done to "frighten and intimidate" the Congress, a charge rejected as "baseless" by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal.
"If we carry on like this, will our democracy remain alive? Will we function as per our Constitution? This is being purposely done to demoralise us, destroy us and intimidate us.
But we will not be afraid or intimidated and will fight," the senior Congress leader said, demanding that there be a discussion on the issue in the House.
Rejecting the Congress's charge, Goyal said the government does not interfere in the functioning of law-enforcement agencies and asked the Congress leaders and Kharge to face the law instead of "running away".
"If anyone has done any wrong, the law will take its course. Whatever the LoP said is totally baseless. The matter has gone to the Supreme Court. The Congress leaders are on bail and the Congress leaders and the LoP should follow the law instead of running away," he said.
"Their government used to interfere in the functioning of law-enforcement agencies. Our government has not done anything like this," he added.
Launching a scathing attack on the prime minister, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said he is "not afraid of Narendra Modi" and will not be "intimidated" by the ED action.
"These are attempts at intimidation," he told reporters outside Parliament.
"They may do whatever they want. It does not matter. I will continue to work to protect the country and democracy and maintain harmony in the country," Gandhi said in his first response after the ED action.
"Truth cannot be barricaded. Do whatever you want, I am not afraid of the Prime Minister, I will always work in the interest of the country. Listen and understand!," he later tweeted.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised the issue of summoning of Kharge by the ED, saying he was called by the probe agency when Parliament is in session and he left around 12:20 pm and presented himself.
"This is Modishahi reaching new lows," Ramesh tweeted.
Later in the day, Ramesh said Kharge had been undergoing interrogation by the ED for the last over six-and-a-half hours.
"His ordeal is continuing. The Congress party stands with him in solidarity," he said.
"Mallikarjun Kharge was supposed to be hosting a dinner for common Opposition candidate for Vice President Smt. Margaret Alva at 7:30 pm today. And he is still with ED. This is height of political vendetta by Modi Sarkar," Ramesh also said.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said that summoning of Kharge by a probe agency during parliamentary proceedings had never happened in the history of democracy.
"There is no such example in the history of democracy. If they had to call Mallikarjun Kharge ji, they could have called him before 11 am or after 5 pm. The Question Hour was going on and before that Zero Hour was there and then ED is calling him to appear before it," Singh said.
"Why is Modi ji scared? Inflation has increased, you can see for yourself. We are fighting your battle. Tomorrow at 11 am all MPs will meet the President to say that the finance minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) is not acquainted with the economic condition of the country," he said.
While Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan said, "This shows they want to shut the voice of the Opposition. This is an insult not just to the Leader of Opposition but to the Parliament. Only a dictator can run the government like this."
Congress leader Jebi Mather said what happened with Kharge should be marked as a "black chapter of democracy".
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhataia accused the Congress of trying to spread "anarchy" and "abusing and intimidating" the ED amid the opposition party's intense protests against the federal agency's action against its leaders in the Herald case.
"They will first engage in looting and then try to spread anarchy in the country. Congress leaders are abusing and threatening the investigation agency. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul should know that they are not above law. The country is governed by the Constitution," he said.
Eight hours
Kharge was with the ED at Young Indian office for 8 hours.
He later tweeted, “If they want to make the process a punishment, I will embrace it. Resilience is in @INCIndia’s blood just like cowardice is in BJP’s.”
(With PTI Inputs)