Soren's plea for exemption from personal appearance granted by Jharkhand HC in ED case

Ranchi, Dec 4 (IANS) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren got big relief from the Jharkhand High Court, which on Wednesday exempted him from personally appearing before the MP-MLA Special Court in Ranchi in a case related to alleged disobedience of Enforcement Directorate (ED) summonses.

The Bench of Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary issued a notice to the ED and directed it to file a response. The next hearing has been scheduled for December 16.

Earlier, the MP-MLA Special Court had dismissed Soren's plea for exemption from personal appearance on November 25, ordering him to appear on December 4.

Aggrieved by this order, Soren moved the Jharkhand High Court. His legal team, comprising advocates Piyush Chitresh, Dipankar Roy, and Shrey Mishra, argued the case during Wednesday's hearing.

The ED had lodged a complaint against Hemant Soren in the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court on February 19 alleging non-compliance with multiple summonses issued in connection with an alleged land scam case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Section 174 of the IPC.

The CJM court took cognisance of the matter on March 4 before transferring it to the MP-MLA Special Court.

The ED's investigation centres on allegations of money laundering in the alleged land scam, with the first summons issued on August 14, 2023. Subsequent summonses were sent on August 19, September 1, September 17, September 26, December 11, and December 29 in 2023, followed by January 13, January 22, and January 27 in 2024. Soren was interrogated following the tenth summons on January 31, 2024.

After appearing on the tenth summons on January 31 this year, Soren was questioned and subsequently arrested.

Soren later filed a petition on July 5, 2024, seeking exemption from personal appearance in the MP-MLA Special Court. However, this petition was rejected by Judge Sarthak Sharma, leading to the current appeal before the High Court.