The Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to appear on June 13 for questioning in a money laundering case related to the newspaper National Herald. The officials gave this information on Friday. The ED had earlier asked Congress leader Gandhi to appear on June 2 but Gandhi had requested for some other way to appear, saying he was out of the country. At present, according to information being received from Congress sources, Rahul Gandhi has returned to Delhi from abroad last night.

Officials have asked Rahul Gandhi to appear at the ED's headquarters in Delhi on June 13. At the same time, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has been summoned by the ED on June 8. The case was registered recently in connection with the probe into alleged financial irregularities in the party-backed Young Indian. The newspaper belongs to National Herald, Young Indian Pvt Ltd. ED officials said that the agency wants to record the statements of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

National Herald is published by Associated Journals Limited and is owned by Young Indian Private Limited. The ED had also recently questioned Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal as part of the investigation. Officials had said that the ED wants to find out about the financial transactions, promoters of Young Indian and the role of AJL by questioning Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leaders. The agency had registered a fresh case under criminal provisions of PMLA after a trial court here took cognizance of the Income Tax Department's investigation against Young Indian Pvt Ltd.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had lodged a complaint in this regard in 2013. Congress has termed the ED's action as an act of retaliation. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters earlier this week that the Modi government should know that by registering such false and bogus cases, it will not be able to succeed in its cowardly conspiracy.