LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi/New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s plea challenging the summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the multi-crore land scam in Ranchi and asked him to instead approach the High Court in this regard.
Soren withdrew the plea after the bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi expressed disinclination to entertain it.
The bench sought to know why he had not approached the Jharkhand High Court which is the jurisdictional HC.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Hemant Soren, submitted he could approach the High Court but added there were related issues pending before the SC. Rohatgi added that it is a case of “complete witch-hunt”.
“You go to the High Court. We will allow you to withdraw,” said Justice Trivedi.
In fact, the chief minister had approached the Supreme Court against the summons of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), saying that it is wrong for the ED to summon him in the land scam.
Soren, in his petition, had stated that the summons is a clear misuse of the Section 50 of the PMLA, which directly infringes upon his right of personal liberty enshrined in the Constitution. “The draconian provisions of PMLA are being misused without giving any information to the person being summoned and the purpose and realm of enquiry,” he stated in his petition.
Notably, the ED has issued four summons to Soren asking him to appear for questioning in a land scam case in Ranchi. The next date for his questioning has fixed for September 23.
Soren has skipped three summons issued by the ED, so far in the land scam.
He had skipped the first summons for questioning in connection with an ongoing money laundering case related to fraudulent sale of land parcels in the state capital on August 14.
In a letter to the ED, he had sought its withdrawal questioning its legality.
The chief minister had also reportedly questioned the choice of date, August 14, for scheduling the questioning despite the common knowledge about the involvement of the office of the chief minister in Independence Day celebrations a day later.
Again, he skipped the second summons, saying he has challenged it in the Supreme Court and so, the ED should wait till the apex court’s order.
However, the ED issued the third summons and asked him to appear for questioning on September 9. The chief minister, however, decided to attend the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu and skipped it again.
Now, all eyes are on the ED’s next move.
