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Special Judge Vishal Gogne: Special Judge Vishal Gogne, who is hearing many high-profile cases, is in the news these days. There are two reasons for this. First, Judge Vishal Gogne himself gave relief to Sonia Gandhi in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case related to National Herald. Second, the Lalu Yadav family has demanded the removal of Judge Vishal Gogne from the hearing of the IRCTC scam case.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne: Political and legal turmoil has intensified regarding the special judge of a Delhi court. The family of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has demanded the replacement of the same judge who gave major relief to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in the ED case related to National Herald. However, the court has rejected this demand outright. On Friday, Principal District and Sessions Judge Dinesh Bhatt rejected the petition of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, in which she had sought transfer of the cases pending against her and her family to another court. Rabri Devi had alleged that special judge Vishal Gogne was adopting a biased attitude in her cases.
These cases have been registered against the Lalu family by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which are related to the Land for Jobs and IRCTC scams. Apart from Rabri Devi, her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav, son Tejashwi Yadav and other family members are accused in these cases. During the hearing in the court, CBI strongly opposed Rabri Devi’s petition. The investigating agency said that this transfer petition is malicious and an attempt to mislead the court. The CBI also alleged that Rabri Devi had deliberately tried to interfere in the judicial process by raising questions on the judge. According to the agency, no bias was raised until charges were framed after lengthy debate and the case reached the evidence stage.
Judge Vishal Gogne himself has given relief to Sonia Gandhi in the ED case related to National Herald. (file photo)
On what basis did the court reject the application of Lalu family?
Delhi court agreed with these arguments and said that the demand for removal of a judge merely by making allegations cannot be accepted. Along with this, the court made it clear that the hearing of the case will proceed as per the prescribed procedure. Meanwhile, another important case is in discussion regarding the same judge Vishal Gogne. A few days ago, he had refused to take cognizance of ED’s money laundering complaint against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case. The court had said that the ED complaint was not legally sustainable because it was not based on an FIR related to any scheduled crime.
What decision did the special judge give in Sonia Gandhi?
In the case related to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Special Judge Vishal Gogne had said in his order that the money laundering action was based on a private complaint, which was filed under Section 200 of the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure, and not on any FIR. This order was considered a big relief for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. However, dissatisfied with this decision, the Enforcement Directorate has now approached the Delhi High Court. Challenging the order of the trial court, ED has said that it has registered a new prosecution case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This petition may be heard next week.
What is the National Herald case?
The National Herald case is related to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which earlier published the National Herald newspaper. It is alleged that in 2010, a company named ‘Young Indian Private Limited’ bought the debt of AJL for just Rs 50 lakh and later gained control over its assets worth more than Rs 2,000 crore. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have majority stake in this company. ED alleges that through this entire transaction, properties were captured by misusing party funds. Recently, ED has also started the process of confiscating assets worth about Rs 661 crore related to AJL.
