New Delhi, Dec 17 (V7N) — A Delhi court has refused to entertain the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. In its order issued on Tuesday, the court stated that judicial proceedings could not be initiated based on the submitted chargesheet under the law.

Following the verdict, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge strongly criticized the BJP at a press conference on Wednesday morning. He described the court’s decision as “a slap in the face” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, urging them to resign and pledge not to harass citizens in the future. The remarks were reported by Hindustan Times.

Kharge claimed that the National Herald case was filed as part of a political vendetta aimed at harassing the Gandhi family, labeling the case false and politically motivated.

Apart from Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the list of accused in the ED case includes Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, Dotex Merchandise, and Sunil Bhandari.

The case traces back to 2013, when the BJP raised corruption allegations against the National Herald newspaper, originally founded by Jawaharlal Nehru. The matter resurfaced after the Modi government came to power in 2014. It was alleged that Associated Journals Limited, the company owning the newspaper, had a total debt of Rs 90 crore, much of which was reportedly linked to the Congress.

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