Big blow to CM Hemant Soren from Jharkhand HC, petition filed against ED rejected

Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren received a big blow from Jharkhand HC on Thursday. CM Soren had filed a petition in HC against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons regarding illegal land deals.

Soren had requested the HC to cancel the ED summons but the HC rejected the Chief Minister’s plea todayt. The division bench headed by High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra rejected the petition and considered it not worthy of hearing. The fifth summons was sent by ED on October 4.

On CM Soren’s petition, Supreme Court’s senior advocate Kapil Sibal, citing a judgment of the Supreme Court, said that “If you are not an accused in any case and no case is registered against you, summons cannot be issued.” At the same time, ED also presented its arguments on the matter through Additional Solicitor General of India SV Raju who argued that this case should be quashed because the Supreme Court has already taken the decision in the matter of summons.
The ED issued summons to CM Hemant Soren five times, but he did not turn up for interrogation. On behalf of CM Soren, a letter was written to ED saying that he is going to follow the law. In such a situation, he has filed a petition in the High Court. In the letter, he has expected not to take any action until the court’s decision. Now the court has rejected his petition. It is believed that the CM will have to cooperate in the ED investigation.

Summons sent to the CM on the following dates:
• First summons: August 8, 2023
• Second summons, August 19, 2023
• Third summons: September 1, 2023
• Fourth summons: September 9, 2023
• Fifth summons: September 26, 2023

On the issue, BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shahdev said that Chief Minister, no matter how many doors you knock, will ultimately have to appear before the ED. “You went to the Supreme Court, went to the High Court. You did not get any relief from anywhere. The more you are seen running away from the ED summons, the more a clear message is being sent to the public that the scam of Rs 70,000 crore that took place in the state is directly linked to you. There is still time to face ED and stop spending money on expensive lawyers,” he said.