Supreme Court To Hear Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's Plea Against ED Summons On September 18

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi was hearing a plea filed by the minister seeking the quashing of the central agency's summons issued last month requiring him to appear for questioning in connection with a money laundering investigation involving an alleged fraudulent sale of land parcels in the state’s capital. At the request of the petitioner, the court adjourned today's hearing until Monday. "We are being led by Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi," the petitioner's counsel told the bench.

During the brief courtroom exchange, Advocate Zoheb Hussain, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, argued that the issue was squarely covered by earlier rulings of the court. "This will be covered by My Lord's earlier judgments. The challenge to the vires has already been decided."

Background

The case revolves around allegations of money laundering connected with an illegal mining case, as well as an alleged land scam in Ranchi. The Enforcement Directorate is investigating both cases, and several individuals, including an IAS officer and a businessmen, have already been arrested in connection with the land scam case.

With respect to the first case, the Jharkhand chief minister was questioned by the central agency in November last year. On August 14, 2023, Soren was summoned again to its zonal office in Ranchi for questioning in connection with the ongoing money laundering case related to fraudulent sale of land parcels in the state capital. Criticising this move as ‘politically motivated’, the minister demanded the withdrawal of the summons. But, the ED rejected his allegations and issued a second summons for August 24. Reportedly, Soren skipped the second ED summons and instead filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging it.

Case Details

Hemant Soren v. Union of India & Anr. | Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 378 of 2023