Big Relief For Sonia Gandhi And Rahul Gandhi In National Herald Case; Court Scraps ED Chargesheet

A Delhi court gives Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi relief in the National Herald case, as Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne declines to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on 16 December 2025, ruling that the money laundering case cannot proceed in its current form.

The Enforcement Directorate action targeted several Congress-linked figures and entities, but the order notes that the complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was based on a private complaint rather than a First Information Report, which the court finds makes the present complaint not maintainable in law.

National Herald case: accused list and entities named

The Enforcement Directorate named Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other individuals along with corporate entities in the National Herald case complaint, which was heard at Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi, where the Special Judge (PC Act) delivered the detailed order on the maintainability question on 16 December 2025 at around 12:09 IST.

National Herald case: ED response and possible appeal

According to sources cited by India Today, Enforcement Directorate officials are expected to challenge the Rouse Avenue Court decision in a higher forum, with the legal team planning to study the complete judgment first and then design a fresh appeal against the ruling on the Prevention of Money Laundering Act complaint.

Internal Enforcement Directorate discussions, sources say, stress that the original private complaint was not a regular one because cognisance of alleged offences had already been taken, and officials also argue that the Special Judge may not have fully considered crucial sections from the Supreme Court’s Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgment while deciding the maintainability issue.

Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi, commenting on the National Herald case after the order, repeats arguments earlier placed before the court and questions the basis of any money laundering charge while also attacking the narrative created by the Bharatiya Janata Party around the investigation and related political debate.

Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi on National Herald case, said, "When I started arguing the case... in the argument, I had told the court that this a very weird case where there is not a millimeter movement of money, not a millimeter movement of immovable property, all the properties remain with AJL and there is money laundering... AJL is now owned 90 per cent by another company Young India - that is all that has happened. The case is not worth taking cognizance of and here you see the amount of 'hulla gulla' BJP has made... they have made a superstructure of exaggeration."

The ruling provides immediate relief to the Congress leaders in the National Herald case, yet the matter stays active, as Enforcement Directorate preparations for an appeal and arguments over the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgment suggest that key legal questions on private complaints and Prevention of Money Laundering Act jurisdiction will continue before higher courts.