The Supreme Court is likely to hear the petition of State Chief Minister Hemant Soren challenging the summons issued by central probe agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged land scam on September 15.
Soren, who had skipped ED summons thrice, has approached Country highest court. ED had asked CM Soren to join its investigation in the alleged money laundering case on August 24. However, he did not appear before ED and on next day he filed a writ petition in the SC.
After being summoned by ED for the third time on September 1, Soren wrote a letter to the central investigation agency informing them that his petition challenging the notice issued against him is pending in the Supreme Court, and hence, he should not be issued further summons.
Soren skipped his third summons in a row on September 9 and instead attended the dinner hosted by Rashtrapati Bhavan for G20 Summit leaders in New Delhi. Two other summons were issued by the ED to him.
The pictures of CM Soren attending the dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu was shared by CM office. In the picture, Hemant Soren is seen with Indian President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and America's President Biden. Chief Minister Hemant Soren is talking to everyone and everyone seems happy about it.
CM Soren on the invitation of President reached New Delhi. CM Soren after meeting the shared pictures in his twitter handle and tweeted, “This evening I had the privilege of attending the #G20India2023 official dinner organized by the Hon. President Smt. Draupadi Murmu ji at Rashtrapati Bhavan. On this occasion, I also got an opportunity to meet Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and other dignitaries.”
CM Soren attending the G20 dinner also assume importance as he once again skipped the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in money laundering case.
The chief minister in his petition at SC has also mentioned that he has provided the details of his movable and immovable assets to CBI in an enquiry directed by Lokpal against his father Shibu Soren in 2020. ED may obtain the details from CBI.
After the ED summoned CM Soren, Congress leader Rakesh Sinha accused the federal agency of "hatching a conspiracy" to defame the developing image of the state.
Meanwhile, the ED has filed a Caveat in the Supreme Court which is yet to be heard. A Caveat gives a person the right to be heard before any decision is made against him as no court can make a decision or issue an order against a person without hearing his or her side.
According to ED sources, the Caveat was filed on August 25 as the central agency thought that Soren would get an order passed by the apex court without their side being heard.
Upon finding that Soren was not showing urgency to get his petition heard by the apex court, the ED served a third summons to Soren.
Notably, the ED is probing two major cases of alleged money laundering in Jharkhand. The first case is related to illegal mining in Sahibganj in which the CM was questioned on November 17 last year. The second case is related to the alleged land scam in the state capital.
