ED opposes Soren’s plea over appearance; hearing deferred
RANCHI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday opposed Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s petition seeking exemption from personal appearance in its complaint case in the MP-MLA court, demanding action against him for not honouring the agency summons, a civil court lawyer said.
“As the ED filed its rejoinder, the court deferred hearing in the matter. The court will now hear arguments from both sides before passing any order,” the civil court lawyer said.
Asked about the points raised by the ED to oppose the petition, a lawyer close to the agency said, “According to the ED, the petition is not maintainable at this stage. According to it, the petition reflects Soren’s lingering attitude. The probe agency has also raised the issue of equality before the law, saying the law is equal for all in the country.”
Soren’s advocate, Pradeep Chandra, confirmed the facts. “The court deferred hearing till August 3,” he said, confirming the facts and court developments in Soren’s case.
Another civil court lawyer familiar with the case said, “Soren, through his lawyer, sought exemption, saying that he had resigned from the office of the chief minister of Jharkhand on 31.01.2024 before his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate. On his release on bail by the order of the Hon’ble High Court dated 28.06.2024 in BA No. 4892/2024, he has been chosen as the Legislature party leader by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party-led alliance and has again been sworn in by the Hon’ble Governor as the chief minister of the State of Jharkhand on 04.07.2024.”
The lawyer, quoting Soren’s petition, said that Soren also cited his official commitments as a reason for exemption from personal appearance.
“Soren, through his petition, also submitted before the court that he is a sitting Member of the Jharkhand State Legislative Assembly and is the incumbent Chief Minister of the State of Jharkhand. Apart from this, he is also the Working President of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. He has been in public life for the last 18 years and has manifold duties and responsibilities to perform regularly, both officially, politically, and otherwise,” the civil courlawyer said.
A lawyer close to the ED said: “On March 4 this year, CJM Krishna Kant Mishra took cognizance of the matter after the ED filed a complaint on February 19, being aggrieved by Soren’s disrespect for its summons.”
“The CJM, while taking cognizance under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code, observed in his order that during the investigation, seven summons dated 07.08.2023, 18.08.2023, 31.08.2023, 11.09.2023, 25.09.2023, 10.12.2023, and a letter dated 29.12.2023 u/s 50 of PMLA, 2002, were issued to Hemant Soren. All the summons were duly served despite, which the proposed accused did not appear. The CJM court, while taking cognizance, had directed Soren to appear on April 3 before it. However, Soren did not turn up and challenged the CJM court order before the Jharkhand High Court on April 5, saying he never disrespected the ED’s summons. The matter is yet to be listed there. The MP MLA court started hearing the matter after the CJM court transferred the same case on June 3,” the lawyer said, sharing the CJM court’s March 4 order copy.
ED officials could not be contacted for their comments.