The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in connection with the alleged land scam case.
ED has asked CM Hemant Soren to appear tomorrow under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the case.
Earlier, CM Hemant Soren filed a writ petition in the Jharkhand High Court challenging the summons issued against him in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate.
Hemant Soren moved the State High Court after his petition to the Supreme Court was rejected, and he was directed by the apex court on December 11 to approach the concerned High Court with his plea against the Enforcement Directorate summons.
Hemant Soren had filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued against him and said that the case against him is a clear case of abuse of law by the Union Government and misuse of the Central agencies to destabilise the democratically elected Government of the State of Jharkhand of which he is the Chief Minister.
Hemant Soren was summoned by the ED in mid-August in connection with a land ‘scam’ case. However, the CM ignored the summons, claiming that he was busy with the State’s Independence Day celebrations.
He was asked again to appear on August 24 and September 9, but he skipped the summons, citing preoccupations.
The agency then issued its fourth summons to the Jharkhand CM, asking him to report to the agency on September 23. The CM had earlier threatened to move for legal proceedings against the Centre if it did not withdraw the summonses issued against him.
In his letter to the agency, Hemant Soren said he had provided all necessary documents and information to the ED.
He wrote that if the ED needed any information, it could refer to the documents that he had already shared with the agency. However, he alleged that the ED summoned him on August 14, at the behest of its “political masters”.
(with inputs from ANI)
