Jharkhand High Court Grants Hemant Soren Exemption from Personal Appearance in ED Case
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Ranchi, December 4 (NationPress) - Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has received a substantial reprieve from the Jharkhand High Court, which on Wednesday granted him exemption from personally appearing before the MP-MLA Special Court in Ranchi related to purported non-compliance with Enforcement Directorate (ED) summonses.
The bench, led by Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary, issued a notice to the ED and instructed it to submit a response. The subsequent hearing is set for December 16.
Previously, the MP-MLA Special Court had rejected Soren's request for exemption from personal appearance on November 25, mandating his attendance on December 4.
Displeased with this ruling, Soren approached the Jharkhand High Court. His legal representatives, including advocates Piyush Chitresh, Dipankar Roy, and Shrey Mishra, presented the case during Wednesday's proceedings.
The ED filed a complaint against Hemant Soren in the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court on February 19, accusing him of failing to comply with several summonses linked to an alleged land scam under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Section 174 of the IPC.
The CJM court acknowledged the case on March 4 before transferring it to the MP-MLA Special Court.
The ED's inquiry focuses on claims of money laundering tied to the alleged land scam, with the initial summons issued on August 14, 2023. Following that, additional summonses were dispatched on August 19, September 1, September 17, September 26, December 11, and December 29 in 2023, as well as January 13, January 22, and January 27 in 2024. Soren was interrogated after complying with the tenth summons on January 31, 2024.
After responding to the tenth summons on January 31 this year, Soren underwent questioning and was subsequently arrested.
On July 5, 2024, Soren filed a petition requesting exemption from personal appearance in the MP-MLA Special Court; however, this petition was turned down by Judge Sarthak Sharma, leading to the ongoing appeal at the High Court.
