Are Gandhis off the hook or…? Here's what order in National Herald case means

A Delhi court on Monday refused to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) prosecution complaint (charesheet) in the National Herald case, granting major relief to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others. Had the court taken cognisance of the ED's chargesheet, the Gandhis and others would have been summoned as an accused in the case and so this order is a major immediate relief for the Gandhis, as the court's refusal to take cognisance halts the criminal prosecution at the threshold and the case will not move to the trial stage for now.

The case of the ED against the Gandhis collapses as of now, as without a First Information Report (FIR), the prosecution complaint (chargesheet) is legally unsustainable. The court order also provides them protection from PMLA prosecution at this stage, as money laundering proceedings cannot continue without a registered FIR in the scheduled offence.

The major immediate procedural relief for the Gandhis is that the ED’s chargesheet is stalled on legal grounds, not merits. The focus will now shift to an FIR registered by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police, and any future action depends on what the ED does in the EOW FIR.

- Ends