What is National Herald case? Why is it in news again?

Let us first know about The National Herald. It is a newspaper in the English language that was started by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister in the year 1938 along with the establishment of the Public Limited publishing company AJL ( Associated Journals Limited ). This company also published two newspapers in Urdu and Hindi language - Qaumi Awaz and Navjivan. After independence, the National Herald became the mouthpiece of the National Congress party.

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In 2008, suffering losses and unable to sustain publication, AJL was forced to formally close printing and publication of the newspapers including the National Herald. In the beginning, AJL had 5,000 shareholders including Nehru and other freedom fighters. The company’s shareholders were down to a little over 1,000 in the year 2010.

After eight years, they made a comeback. They relaunched three newspapers in 2016 in a digital format.

At the time of its closing, publication in 2008, the company owed the Congress an accumulated debt of ₹90 crore that the party has loaned it on an interest-free basis from time to time. In the year 2010, the party assigned the recovery of this debt owed to a private charitable company called Young Indian (YIL), created in late 2010 as a Section 25 company.

Moreover, a company incorporated under the Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956, now replaced by Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, is a not-for-profit charitable company, created solely for the promotion of commerce, sports, charity, art, or social welfare, among other things.

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In the year 2014, the Enforcement Directorate initiated the probe to see if there was any money laundering in the case. On 18 th September 2015, it was reported that the Enforcement Directorate had reopened its investigation in the National Herald case.

In the year 2015, the Supreme Court asked Swamy to make out a case for a speedy trial in the high court. In 2016, the Supreme Court granted an exemption to all the five accused in the case (the Gandhis, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, and Suman Dubey) from personal appearances while refusing to quash proceedings against them.

Also Read :- What is the national debt ?