Ranchi, March 24 The ongoing tussle between the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Jharkhand Police has now reached the doors of the Supreme Court of India. The state government has challenged the Jharkhand High Court order directing a CBI probe into the issue.
The Jharkhand government has contested the March 11 High Court order, which transferred the investigation of an FIR lodged against ED officials to the CBI. The matter has not yet been listed for hearing before the apex court.
In his order, Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi had directed that the FIR -- registered at Ranchi’s airport police station on the basis of a complaint by Santosh Kumar, an accused in a money laundering case -- along with all related aspects -- be handed over to the CBI for an independent probe.
The controversy erupted when Santosh Kumar, an employee of the Jharkhand Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, claimed that he was physically assaulted and mentally harassed by ED officials during questioning at the agency’s Ranchi office on January 12.
Acting on the complaint, the Ranchi Police registered an FIR and subsequently carried out action at the ED office that the central agency described as akin to a “raid”. The ED termed the police action as malicious and an overreach that interfered with the functioning of a central investigative body.
Following this, the ED moved the High Court seeking relief. Taking note of the sensitive nature of the dispute between a central agency and the state police, the court first stayed the police investigation and then ordered that the security of the ED office be handed over to paramilitary forces.
During the hearing, the ED maintained that the FIR against its officials was baseless and argued for a CBI probe to ensure impartiality -- an argument that found favour with the High Court.
With the state government now challenging the order, the stage is set for a major legal battle over jurisdictional boundaries and investigative authority between state police and central agencies.
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