New Delhi, May 8 (PTI) A Delhi court on Thursday deferred the hearing in the National Herald money laundering case involving Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to May 21 and 22.

Special judge Vishal Gogne after hearing the submissions of the Enforcement Directorate said as notice to co-accused Sam Pitroda was sent via email on Thursday, it was appropriate to hear arguments on the cognisance of chargesheet on the next date.

The court also decided to first hear the ED stand when case's complainant and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy sought a copy of the ED chargesheet.

On May 2, the court issued notices to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

It also issued notice to Congress leader Pitroda and Suman Dubey, and "Young Indian", Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd and Sunil Bhandari.

The judge said that their "right to be heard" was available at the time of cognisance of the chargesheet.

"Right to be heard at any stage breathes life into fair trial," the judge had said, posting the matter on May 8.

The chargesheet in the matter was filed under Sections 3 (money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED, which filed its chargesheet recently, began its probe in 2021 after a magistrate court took cognisance of a private complaint filed by Swamy on June 26, 2014.

The complaint, the ED said, highlighted a "criminal conspiracy" by several prominent political figures, including the first family of the Congress party led by Sonia, her MP son Rahul, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes aside from Dubey, Pitroda and a private company Young Indian for their alleged involvement in money laundering in relation to the fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the Associated Journals Limited.

The Gandhis are majority shareholders of Young Indian with 38 per cent shares held by each one of them. They were questioned for hours by the ED in this case a few years ago. PTI MNR AMK AMK

Money laundering charges: hearing deferred to address service, ED submissions and accused rights at cognisance stage. Proceedings on an ED chargesheet alleging money laundering were deferred to permit service on a co-accused and to hear the Enforcement Directorate before addressing the complainant's request for the chargesheet copy. The court underscored the accused's right to be heard at cognisance. The chargesheet, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, alleges a criminal conspiracy involving several individuals and entities concerning the takeover of a media company's assets and identifies relevant shareholder interests.