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HomePoliticsNot just Chidambaram, other Congress leaders including Sonia, Rahul face charges too

Not just Chidambaram, other Congress leaders including Sonia, Rahul face charges too

Over the years, a number of Congress leaders have come under the scanner, including Hooda, Tharoor, Shivakumar and Digvijay Singh.

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New Delhi: Former finance minister P. Chidambaram was arrested this week for his alleged involvement in the grant of foreign investment for Indrani and Peter Mukerjea’s INX Media in violation of the law.

However, he is far from being the only senior Congress leader accused of corruption. A flurry of graft cases against Congress leaders has proved to be a potent tool in the hands of rivals, with PM Modi even referring to the party as a “bail gaadi (a party of people out on bail)”.

Here’s a list of some high-profile Congress leaders facing investigation for corruption and other crimes.

Sonia and Rahul Gandhi

The two have been named as accused in the alleged Rs 5,000 crore National Herald scam.

According to the complainant, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the Congress leaders were involved in cheating and breach of trust in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL) in 2011.

He alleges that Sonia and Rahul, along with others, own shares in YIL.

When National Herald, which is owned by AJL, stopped publishing in 2008 (it’s live again now), it allegedly owed Rs 90 crore to the Congress.

According to Swamy, YIL purchased all of AJL’s liabilities for a sum of Rs 50 lakh. To settle the debt it now owed YIL, AJL, he claims, signed over property worth thousands of crores to the former — property AJL had allegedly received at discounted rates for running the newspaper.

While approaching a trial court in 2012 with his complaint, Swamy also pointed out that, as a political party, the Congress was not supposed to issue loans.

Apart from the Gandhis, former Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, general secretary Oscar Fernandes, journalist Suman Dubey and technocrat Sam Pitroda have also been named in the case.

Sonia and Rahul were granted bail in 2015. The case is still pending with the Delhi High Court.

Bhupinder Hooda

Hooda, who recently hit out at Congress party for having lost its way, is also embroiled in a scam linked to AJL.

In June 2016, the ED registered a money-laundering case against Hooda for “causing loss to the government exchequer by re-allotting the plot to AJL”. Based on the State Vigilance Bureau’s report. An inquiry was soon ordered by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, and the case was handed over to the CBI.

In December 2018, CBI filed a chargesheet in the case accusing Hooda, Vora and AJL on charges of corruption, cheating and criminal conspiracy. The case is pending trial in the CBI court in Panchkula. Both Hooda and Vora are currently on bail.

But this isn’t the only case Hooda is embroiled in.

Hooda is also under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged Rs 1500 crore Manesar land scam.

“In 2004, the then state government had issued a notification for acquiring land in Manesar, Lakhnoula and Naurangpur. In the wake of the notification, many farmers sold off their lands at low prices to private builders. Three years later, the government issued a directive to drop the acquisition notification. The apex court had directed the land to be vested with Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA)/Haryana Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC),” The Indian Express reported.

Hooda, along with others, has been charged with “criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B IPC) and cheating (Section 420 IPC) along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.”

Perhaps the most controversial case Hooda is involved in remains the DLF land scam. It is alleged that the Hooda government sold property at throwaway prices to Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. Vadra, in turn, is said to have sold these properties for a massive profit to DLF. In 2015, the Manohar Lal Khattar-led government set up a one man commission to probe the charges against all parties. The Justice Dhingra commission recommended further inquiry as it believed there was collusion that benefited Vadra.

An FIR was registered against the two in 2018 and the case is currently being investigated by the CBI.


Also read: Now Congress leaders go at each other over ‘demonising Modi’ after Article 370 dissent


D. K. Shivakumar

Karnataka’s D. K. Shivakumar, a former minister, found himself facing two income tax cases in 2018, months after he helped the Congress stall an alleged BJP poaching bid by keeping 42 Gujarat MLAs at a resort ahead of the 2017 Rajya Sabha election. He was discharged in the cases, pertaining to allegations of destruction of evidence and tax evasion, earlier this year.

In a third case, proceedings against Shivakumar and two others have been stayed till 4 September by the Karnataka High Court, after a special court refused to discharge them in a case where they were alleged to have wilfully attempted to evade tax and file a false income tax statement.

A fourth case was filed by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in September 2018. The ED suspected that Shivakumar was transporting “huge amounts of cash through hawala channels.”

Shashi Tharoor

The Delhi Police in June 2018 filed a chargesheet against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, four years after his wife was found dead in a Delhi hotel room where the couple was staying. Tharoor is accused of abetment to suicide and subjecting Pushkar to cruelty.

He was granted bail by a trial court in July 2018.

Digvijaya Singh

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh was booked last year for allegedly furnishing false evidence and misguiding the court in connection with the Vyapam scam.

The Vyapam scam refers to alleged irregularities in exams held by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board.

Singh had earlier filed a complaint seeking the criminal prosecution of then Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and others for alleged involvement in the scam. Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath and former MP Jyotiraditya Scindia have also been booked for allegedly fabricating evidence.

The case is still under trial.

Virbhadra Singh, Raj Babbar

In December 2018, the Delhi High Court ordered the framing of charges against former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh for alleged criminal misconduct and amassing disproportionate assets of over Rs 10 crore.

Another important Congress leaders facing a court battle is Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar. He has been accused of violating the model code of conduct during the 1996 Lok Sabha election.


Also read: In Karnataka, BJP & Congress fighting identical problems — dissent, ambition & rivalries


 

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4 COMMENTS

  1. All these scoundrels to be under bars n to be quick for misusing power, false promises & oath towards integrity in Service towards nation, looting public n government property.
    Even punishment should be to the extent of recovery of loss + fine through their bank accounts n stolen assets accumulated during years of corruption

    • Many cases filed but no speedy trials at all. Most of the so-called accused persons are sr citizens age-wise,, hope justice/pronouncement of thr verfict is decided quickly without further delaying yhe matter.

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