Sonia Gandhi leaves ED office after 2 hours of questioning, to appear next on July 25

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday recorded the statement of Congress president Sonia Gandhi for two hours in the National Herald money laundering case and ended the session for the day on her request as she is recovering from Covid, officials said.

Gandhi 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.

She has been allowed to leave on her request made on medical grounds, sources said.

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

Second round of questioning on July 25

The ED has summoned Sonia Gandhi for the second round of questioning on July 25, officials said on Thursday.

Though the ED officials said the questioning of the 75-year-old ended on her request, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said it was they who told Sonia Gandhi that the ED had no further questions and she could leave.

Sonia Gandhi in turn said she would be willing to respond to any other questions they might have and was ready to stay on till 8 pm or 9 pm if necessary, Ramesh posted on Twitter. She also said she was a Covid patient and needed to take her medicines so she should be informed about what time she should appear next.

An ED official said she was initially summoned again on July 26 but this was advanced to July 25 at her insistence.

Police deployed around Congress HQ

There was heavy deployment of police personnel around the Congress headquarters and the Enforcement Directorate office here ahead of Sonia Gandhi's questioning.

Sonia reached the ED office along with her daughter Priyanka Gandhi, son Rahul Gandhi and a few other leaders around Thursday noon. Many leaders from Kerala who were with Sonia were taken into custody by the police. While Rahul left after dropping Sonia, Priyanka is still with the Congress leader. 

As the police anticipated that Congress workers might take a protest march from the party headquarters, they placed several barricades on the road to stop the protesters from moving towards the ED office. 

The barricades were placed en route from 24 Akbar road to the ED Office, Paryawaran Bhawan, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam road.

The police personnel in heavy numbers, along with paramilitary force and rapid action force teams were deployed at several points to avoid any untoward incident.

Delhi Traffic Police have also issued an advisory asking the people to avoid certain roads on Thursday.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that Delhi Police are preventing media from entering the Congress party headquarters from early hours. "This high-handedness was only to be expected and reflects the mindset of the Modi Sarkar," the Congress leader tweeted.

However, denying the allegations, Deputy Commissioner of Police Amrutha Guguloth said that there were no such restrictions. "Media is allowed at 24 Akbar Road," she said.

Last month the Congress workers carried out a widespread protest during the questioning of their leader Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate.

Sonia facing speech issues, may seek some relief

Earlier, it was reported that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may carry Sonia Gandhi's medical documents to seek some relief for her mother as she is facing speech issues. Sources said that Sonia Gandhi faces some problems while speaking due to post-Covid issues.

"She has a problem due to the disease. We will see how to proceed further," said the source.

Due to her health issues, Sonia Gandhi was unable to join the probe earlier and had sought postponements earlier. As per the scheduled date, she has to appear before the ED on Thursday.

She will be questioned by a team of joint director level officials, including a woman.

Sources have suggested that she will be asked the same set of questions which were asked to Rahul Gandhi during his five day-questioning, ED sources claimed.

Modi govt 'misusing' probe agencies

The Congress on Thursday slammed the Modi government for "misusing" probe agencies against opposition leaders and staged protests against the Enforcement Directorate's summons to Sonia Gandhi.

Senior Congress leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condemned the ED action of calling Sonia Gandhi for questioning, and said the probe agency should first hold a press conference to spell out under what charges she is being probed.

"I condemn the ED action of calling Sonia Gandhi for questioning," he told reporters at a press conference.

"The ED should have gone to her residence to take her responses to their questions," he said, citing past precedents, adding that this is being done to harass her.