GG News Bureau
Ranchi, 11th Oct. Chief Minister Hemant Soren told the Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday that summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate in a case of alleged money laundering are unwarranted.
His lawyer, P Chidambaram, updated the bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Justice Ananda Sen that it was unclear if Soren was called as a witness or an accused.
Chidambaram argued via video conference, and the matter will be reheard on October 13.
The ED had summoned Soren to appear in person at the federal agency’s Ranchi office on August 14 and afterwards record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Soren petitioned the High Court when the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal against the summons. On September 18, however, a bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi allowed the chief minister the right to seek relief from the Jharkhand High Court.
The HC on October 6 asked Soren to rectify the “defects” in his petition which challenged the summons to him by the ED. The chief minister’s counsel was asked to correct the errors in the petition which was filed on September 23.
Soren in his petition urged the high court to stay the summons issued to him by the ED. He also questioned the jurisdiction of the investigating agency for sending summons to him.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president also alleged that political vendetta is one of the reasons for being harassed by the ED.
The ED had sent a summons to Soren to depose at the federal agency’s office in Ranchi on August 14 and later to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
He had also skipped the ED’s summons in an alleged defence land scam case citing pre-scheduled events.
Soren has been asked by the agency to appear in its office which he skipped multiple times.
The ED intends to question the chief minister with regards to land scams running into crores involving the land mafia, senior bureaucrats and politicians, sources said.
The 48-year-old JMM leader was interrogated for over nine hours by the ED on November 17 last year in connection with another money-laundering case linked to alleged illegal mining in the state.
The central probe agency is investigating more than a dozen land deals, including one related to defence land, wherein a group of mafia, middlemen and bureaucrats allegedly connived to forge deeds and documents dating as long back as 1932.
The ED has arrested several people so far in the state, including Soren’s political aide Pankaj Mishra.
Soren was initially summoned by the ED on November 3, 2022, but he did not appear citing official engagements.
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