Ranchi, Aug 21 The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday heard Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s petition challenging the proceedings against him in a case related to alleged disobedience of Enforcement Directorate (ED) summonses.
The matter is currently pending before the MP-MLA Court in Ranchi.
The case came up before Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary. During the hearing, Soren’s counsel sought time to present arguments. The court granted the request and fixed the next hearing after eight weeks.
The ED had filed a complaint before the CJM court on February 19, 2024, alleging that Soren had ignored multiple summonses issued in connection with a land scam in Ranchi’s Bargain zone.
According to the agency, between August 2023 and January 2024, ten summonses were issued, but the Chief Minister appeared only twice.
The ED said summonses were sent to CM Soren on August 19, September 1, September 17, September 26, December 11, and December 29 in 2023, and on January 13, January 22, and January 27 in 2024.
The ED has charged that his non-appearance amounts to an offence under Section 63 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Section 174 of the IPC.
The CJM court took cognisance of the complaint on March 4, 2024, and later transferred the matter to the Special MP-MLA Court.
Soren, however, has challenged the order, arguing that he had submitted written replies to several summonses and had complied with fresh notices after earlier ones lapsed.
He has also alleged that the repeated summonses were motivated by malice and urged that the complaint be quashed.
Soren was represented in court by advocates Pradeep Chandra, Dipankar Roy, and Shrey Mishra.
Soren, accused of corruption in the land scam, was arrested by the ED on January 31, 2024, after seven hours of questioning. He had resigned as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand before the arrest.
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