The Delhi High Court on Monday (July 27, 2026) granted three weeks to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others to reply to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea challenging a trial court order that refused to take cognisance of its chargesheet against them in the National Herald-linked money laundering case.
The court posted the matter for hearing on September 10.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, said the trial court had “gone terribly wrong” in the case, and the respondents had filed no reply despite the High Court giving them time to do so two months ago.
“This is only a question of law. Time to file reply was given two months ago...,” Mr. Mehta said.
Besides the Gandhis, the High Court has issued notices to Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, Dotex Merchandise Private Limited, and Sunil Bhandari on ED’s plea.
In its order, the trial court had said that an investigation and the consequent prosecution complaint, which is equivalent to a chargesheet, pertaining to the offence of money laundering was “not maintainable” in the absence of a First Information Report (FIR) for the offence mentioned in the schedule to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It said the agency’s probe stemmed from a private complaint and not an FIR.
The ED, in its plea, said the trial court order had in effect given a “hall pass” to a category of money launderers only on the grounds that the scheduled offence was reported by a private individual by way of a complaint to a magistrate.
“The sole ground given for declining cognisance is that a prosecution complaint filed by an authorised officer under the PMLA cannot be based on a scheduled offence emanating from a private complaint filed by a private individual and such scheduled offence must be registered only by a Law Enforcement Agency, that is, either by way of an FIR by the police or a complaint by a person authorised to investigate the scheduled offence,” the plea said.
Published - July 27, 2026 04:41 pm IST