LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, Oct 13: The hearing on the petition filed by CM Hemant Soren against the ED summons was held in the Jharkhand High Court on Friday.
During the hearing held in a hybrid mode, senior advocates P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and advocate Piyush Chitresh presented their side on behalf of the CM. ASG (Additional Solicitor General) SV Raju argued on behalf of the ED.
After hearing the arguments from both the sides, a division bench of Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Ananda Sen rejected the petition of CM Hemant Soren.
During the hearing in the High Court, the ED said that the CM had already violated the summons. He did not appear on any summons of ED. In such a situation, there is no justification for him to challenge the summons. Therefore he cannot be given a relief.
On behalf of the CM, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the court that no case of any kind is registered against the CM. In such a situation, it is not appropriate for the ED to summon him.
The ED said that the applicant has challenged Sections 50 and 60 of the PMLA Act, which has been decided by the Supreme Court in the case of Vijay Madan Lal Chaudhary. Under this, the agency has the right to issue summons and record statements. In such a situation, the High Court cannot give any order in this matter, he added.
Notably, Hemant Soren knocked on the doors of the High Court on September 23 against the summons of ED. The Chief Minister has filed a petition in the High Court demanding a stay on the ED action and has requested for intervention in this matter. Besides, the CM had also challenged the powers of ED in the petition. Earlier, the Chief Minister had also challenged the ED summons in the Supreme Court.
