国民先驱报洗钱案

The National Herald money laundering case involves allegations against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) accused them of conspiring to illegally acquire control of assets worth over ₹2,000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), publisher of the National Herald newspaper, through Young Indian—a company in which the Gandhis hold a 76% stake. The ED alleged that AJL’s properties were transferred to Young Indian for a nominal payment of ₹50 lakh. In December 2025, the Rouse Avenue Court refused to take cognisance of the ED’s prosecution complaint, ruling that the PMLA proceedings were not maintainable as they stemmed from a private complaint rather than a registered FIR. The ED subsequently filed a fresh chargesheet in 2026 and moved the Delhi High Court challenging the trial court’s order.

2025年12月16日，德里Rouse Avenue法院特别法官Vishal Gogne裁定，拒绝受理ED对Sonia Gandhi、Rahul Gandhi及其他五名被告的洗钱起诉，理由是ED的起诉缺乏法律依据，因而非可受理。法院同时允许ED继续调查。ED随后提起上诉，并于2026年提交新的指控书。

案件的核心争议焦点在于：ED依据《预防洗钱法》（PMLA）提起的诉讼是否具有法律基础。法院认为，ED的起诉依据是BJP领导人Subramanian Swamy于2013年提出的私人申诉及法院据此发出的传唤令，而非警方正式立案的FIR，因此根据PMLA规定，洗钱诉讼必须以关联犯罪（predicate offence）的FIR为前提。国大党称此案为执政党的政治迫害，BJP则否认指控并坚持案件涉及严重财务违规。

该案在印度引发巨大政治反响。国大党称法院裁决“暴露了莫迪政府的非法性”，是“政治迫害的失败”；BJP则指责国大党误导公众，称案件尚未完结。该案被视为印度执政党与主要反对派之间司法政治化的典型案例，围绕执法机构独立性与政治动机的争论持续发酵。