From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, Oct 3: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday grilled Meghalaya Congress president Vincent H Pala for over two hours at its headquarters in New Delhi in connection with the National Herald case.
Earlier, top Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were interrogated by the ED.
Pala, who is a former Union minister, had arrived in the national capital on Sunday after receiving summons from the agency.
He was questioned for his “donations” to the Gandhi family-led trust. The Shillong MP submitted a written statement to the ED and it asked him to submit some documents in connection with the case.
The case relates to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian, which owns the National Herald newspaper. Pala reportedly admitted to donating money through cheques to the National Herald from his own sources of income.
The investigation into the case is continuing. The ED issued notices to many other Congress leaders from time to time seeking their appearance before it.
The notices were served under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2005. The ED registered a new case under the criminal provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act after a trial court in Delhi had taken cognisance of an Income Tax department investigation into Young Indian Pvt Ltd.