New Delhi: On Monday, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has not got relief in the money laundering case. The Supreme Court rejected to consider Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren plea against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons in an alleged money laundering case. Mukul Rohatgi Senior lawyer, claimed in the court that this is a complete case of witch-hunt.
New Delhi: On Monday, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has not got relief in the money laundering case. The Supreme Court rejected to consider Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren plea against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons in an alleged money laundering case. Mukul Rohatgi Senior lawyer, claimed in the court that this is a complete case of witch-hunt.
On this, A bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi said, “Rohatgi ji, why don’t you go to the High Court? No no, you go to the High Court. We will allow you to withdraw the petition.” The petition was dismissed as withdrawn. Justices Bela M Trivedi and Aniruddha Bose granted Soren leave to approach the Jharkhand High Court for relief in the case.
SV Raju,Additional Solicitor General, appearing for the ED, said the issue comes under a large number of judgments.Soren has moved the top court challenging the summons sent to him on August 14 to appear at the federal agency office in Ranchi and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Earlier, Soren had not attended the ED summons in the alleged defense land scam case citing premeditated events. The 48-year-old Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader was questioned by the ED for over nine hours on November 17 last year in another money laundering case related to alleged illegal mining in the state.
The central probe agency is probing over a dozen land deals, including one related to defense land, in which a group of mafia, middlemen and bureaucrats allegedly colluded to forge old deeds and documents dating back to 1932. The ED has so far arrested several people in the state, including Soren’s political aide Pankaj Mishra.
Soren was initially summoned by the ED on November 3, 2022, but he did not appear citing official commitments. He had also challenged the Central Investigation Agency to arrest him and then sought a three-week deferment of the summons.
