New Delhi, Nov 29: A Delhi court on Saturday deferred the pronouncement of its decision to December 16, on whether to take cognisance of the prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged National Herald money laundering case.

The high-profile case arrays Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress Overseas chief Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others as accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne, who was expected to deliver the verdict on Saturday, has deferred the pronouncement to December 16.

The Rouse Avenue Court had reserved its order on November 7 after the ED submitted additional clarifications following the court’s inspection of the case records.

“Further submissions and clarifications have been advanced by the Additional Solicitor General on behalf of the ED in light of the inspection of the case files by the court. List for orders on November 29,” Judge Gogne had stated.

As per the ED, top Congress functionaries allegedly conspired to wrongfully acquire control of assets exceeding Rs 2,000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the original publisher of the National Herald, by paying a nominal price of Rs 50 lakh.

Earlier, the court had deferred its decision, noting that further scrutiny of the transaction documents, alleged rent receipts, and fund flow patterns was required before determining whether the prosecution complaint met the statutory threshold for cognisance under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

While the ED argued that the case involves a “serious economic offence” and a conspiracy to usurp AJL’s properties through Young Indian — in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are majority stakeholders — for a nominal sum, the Congress leaders have described the money laundering allegations as “really strange” and “unprecedented”.

As per the ED, a conspiracy was hatched to form Young Indian to acquire control over the vast assets of the now-defunct newspaper, aimed at benefiting the top Congress leadership personally.

The probe agency reported that several senior Congress leaders were involved in “fake transactions,” alleging that individuals, acting on their instructions, had issued fraudulent advance rent payments for years using fabricated rent receipts.

The controversy over the National Herald’s assets came into focus in 2012 when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint in a trial court, alleging that Congress leaders had engaged in cheating and breach of trust in the process of acquiring AJL.

Mumbai, Nov 29: Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday accused the MahaYuti government led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of making grand claims about infrastructure while ignoring the collapsing healthcare and basic facilities in remote tribal regions.

In its editorial, Saamana, the Shiv Sena (UBT) said the government’s talk of development amounted to nothing more than “empty words” and “colourful balloons” when people living barely a few hours from Mumbai continue to suffer due to poor roads, inadequate health services, and unreliable ambulance systems.

The Thackeray camp urged the Chief Minister to prioritize the basic needs of the poor and remote tribal populations — namely decent roads, health facilities, and reliable ambulance services — before focusing on ambitious projects like the Metro network, highways, and tunnel roads.

The sharp criticism followed the incident in Mokhada in tribal dominated Palghar district, where an ambulance driver dropped off a tribal woman and her newborn baby halfway home after delivery, forcing them and her relatives to walk two km.

According to the editorial, this event, which came to light only because a citizen posted it on social media, exposed the gap between the government’s “vision of development” and the ground reality. It said that despite seven decades of independence, areas like Wada-Mokhada and other tribal parts of the state lack the basic necessities.

“There are no proper roads or adequate transportation facilities (daldalvanachi soy). Even if a Primary Health Center (PHC) exists, it often lacks doctors, staff, or medicines. Due to a lack of roads, pregnant women and sick people have to be carried in slings (zoli) or palanquins (doli) to the nearest town for treatment, which frequently leads to deliveries or deaths during the journey. Even when ambulances are available, they are often useless due to a lack of roads or a lack of drivers,” said the editorial.

“In Mumbai, which the Chief Minister talks about transforming, Mokhada is just a stone’s throw away. If the ambulance driver had been so callously negligent with a laboring tribal woman, what use is your development vision and your transformation?” asked Thackeray camp.

“The MahaYuti partners talk big about development. They boast about building so many lakh km of roads and so many bridges. They float colorful balloons in the air, detailing how they created a network of roads, how they sped up transportation by expanding highways, how they wove the metro rail network, and how they built large hospitals. The incident in Mokhada revealed how baseless these talks and balloons are,” claimed Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena.

The editorial serves as a reminder that while metro networks and expressways may define modern development, the true measure of governance lies in reaching the most marginalised communities with essential services like healthcare, roads, and emergency response systems.

Mumbai, Nov 28: The Khar Police have registered an FIR against director, producer and writer Kaval Sharma for allegedly cheating actress Kiran Ahuja of Rs 71.50 lakh under the pretext of investing in movies and web series.

According to the FIR, Ahuja, 57, who resides in Khar West, has worked in the film Ready as well as various advertisements. In 2016, she was introduced to Sharma, 69, from Juhu through a friend.

The actress said that he told her he ran a company, Film Farming Entertainment Network India, based in Andheri and even offered her a role in a play, but she declined.

Seven years later, both of them met at an event and Sharma again proposed to work together, while offering her good returns upon an investment of Rs 3 lakh in a play, said the FIR, adding that Ahuja declined again.

In August 2024, Sharma allegedly contacted her and claimed that his production house was planning to produce a web series Luck by Exchange and a film. He apparently told the actress that if she invested Rs 60–70 lakh, she would earn Rs 1 crore. Ahuja said that she accepted the offer this time as Sharma was ready to accept money in instalments.