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THE NATIONAL HERALD CASE
Union Minister Shri Hardeep Singh Puri addressed a press conference at the BJP central office in New Delhi on 17 April 2025. During the conference, Shri Puri made major revelations about the involvement of Congress leaders in the National Herald case. He stated that the building allotted to the National Herald was never used for running a press. Instead, Congress leaders misused these buildings for personal and commercial purposes, thereby deceiving Congress workers and the entire nation. Excerpts:
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri said that when the Enforcement Directorate filed this case, Congress leaders accused the Modi government of political vendetta and misusing central agencies. The BJP simply wants to tell Congress to engage in some self-reflection. The Congress party is misleading its own workers—when in reality, they should be protesting against their own leadership. The history of the National Herald is quite old; it was established in 1937. However, the publication of this newspaper ceased in 2008, and the National Herald case began around 2012–13, at a time when the BJP was not in power. The real question is: how was property worth Rs. 2,000 crore acquired with just Rs.50 lakh?
He stated that the National Herald case is one of fraud, corruption, and money laundering, and is essentially a shut-and-closed case. When the matter was brought before the Metropolitan Magistrate in 2014, the Magistrate had clearly stated, “It appears that Young Indian Limited (YIL) was created with the intent of converting public money to personal use.” Since 2014, the case has been moving through various courts, and the Congress party has repeatedly tried to delay the proceedings by deploying its team of lawyers. Young Indian Limited was registered in 2010 as a Section 25 company with the stated objective of charity and an initial capital of Rs.50 lakh. Despite this, the Congress party extended a loan of around Rs.80–90 crore to it. The pertinent question now is—what steps did the Congress party take to recover this amount? Subsequently, assets worth Rs.2,000 crore were acquired in exchange for just Rs.50 lakh.
Highlights
• Congress’s real interest was not in the newspaper; this family had already been active in real estate with the properties of AJL.
• Plot number 5A, located on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, was allotted to AJL in 1963 at a rate of Rs.1.25 lakh per acre. The plot was intended for a press and office, but an investigation in 2016 revealed that there was never a printing press in the building.
• The basement of this building was completely vacant, while the ground and first floors were rented out to the passport office, and the second and third floors were rented to Tata Consultancy Services, generating a significant rental income.
• Only Rs.50 lakh was paid for the transfer of 99% of AJL’s shares to Young India, while the value of AJL’s properties was over Rs.2000 crore. Some even claim that their actual value is close to Rs.5000 crore.
• Congress party workers should raise their voices against those leaders in their party who misused charitable purposes and used party resources for personal gain.
• In November 2010, the Gandhi family formed a new company called “Young India” and paid only Rs.50 lakh to settle a loan of Rs.90 crore.
• What were Kharge and other Congress leaders doing when the newspaper shut down in 2008? Please provide a list of the efforts Congress made to continue running the newspaper at that time.
• In 2008, the publication of the National Herald newspaper ceased, and the case began in 2012-13. There was no intervention from the BJP government in this matter.
In 2014, when this case came before the Metropolitan Magistrate, the Magistrate clearly stated that “It appears that Young India Limited was created with the purpose of converting public funds into private use”.