Sonia Gandhi leaves ED office after 2 hours of questioning

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday recorded the statement of Congress president Sonia Gandhi for two hours in the National Herald case and ended the session for the day.

Sonia Gandhi, 75, arrived at the ED headquarters located at Vidyut Lane flanking A P J Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi a little after noon escorted by her Z+ category CRPF security cover.

The questioning began around 12:30 pm after completion of some formalities like verification of summons and signature in the attendance sheet, sources said.

The probe relates to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper.

Senior Congress leader and AICC in charge of communication, publicity and media, Jairam Ramesh condemned earlier reports in the media that the Congress president requested the officials to end the investigation. He tweeted in Hindi that Sonia Gandhi was willing to stay till 8-9 pm for questioning, but the ED officials said that they had no questions and she could go.

Earlier today, the National Herald carried a PTI report that falsely reported that Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who appeared before the Enforcement Directorate today (21 July) for questioning in the National Herald case, had requested the Directorate to conclude her questioning today. We have now reliably learnt that this is incorrect--Mrs Gandhi made no such request. The error is sincerely regretted.