Express News Service
RANCHI: In a major disappointment for Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday issued fresh summons against him asking him to appear before its zonal office in Ranchi on October 4 for questioning in the multi-crore land scam.
Notably, he has been summoned this time for the fifth time after he skipped the four summons issued earlier by ED in the same case, citing various reasons.
In spite of appearing before the ED on September 23, Soren had sent a letter to the ED pleading that the summons be put on hold till the Jharkhand High Court takes a call on his petition challenging the summons. But ED issued a fresh summons against him on Tuesday. Soren has moved Jharkhand High Court after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his petition directing him to approach the Jharkhand High Court instead of coming directly to the apex court. Soren has approached Supreme Court challenging the summons issued by ED saying that it is wrong for the ED to summon him in the land scam.
In his petition, Soren stated that the summons is a clear misuse of Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act ((PMLA), 2002, which directly infringes upon his right to personal liberty enshrined in the Constitution. Section 50 empowers the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to summon an accused and record a statement.
The statement is admissible as evidence in court. Notably, Soren skipped the first summons on August 14 and sent a letter to ED asking it to withdraw the summons or he will be forced to take legal action against the agency.
But, the ED again issued a summon against Soren asking him to appear before it on August 24. Soren skipped it again and sent a letter to ED saying that he had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to him, but he was summoned again by ED for the third time. Soren is waiting for the hearing of his petition in the Supreme Court on Monday, but before that, he was issued a fresh summons by ED asking to appear before it on September 23. ED is probing two major cases of money laundering in Jharkhand. The first case is related to illegal mining in Sahibganj in which the CM was questioned on November 17 last year.
While, the second case is related to an alleged land scam in the state capital for which Soren has been issued summons twice by the ED. 13 people, including IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan and two businessmen, Amit Agarwal of Kolkata and Bishnu Agarwal, who own shopping malls in Ranchi, have already been arrested in connection with the alleged land scam.
RANCHI: In a major disappointment for Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday issued fresh summons against him asking him to appear before its zonal office in Ranchi on October 4 for questioning in the multi-crore land scam.
Notably, he has been summoned this time for the fifth time after he skipped the four summons issued earlier by ED in the same case, citing various reasons.
In spite of appearing before the ED on September 23, Soren had sent a letter to the ED pleading that the summons be put on hold till the Jharkhand High Court takes a call on his petition challenging the summons. But ED issued a fresh summons against him on Tuesday. Soren has moved Jharkhand High Court after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his petition directing him to approach the Jharkhand High Court instead of coming directly to the apex court. Soren has approached Supreme Court challenging the summons issued by ED saying that it is wrong for the ED to summon him in the land scam.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
In his petition, Soren stated that the summons is a clear misuse of Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act ((PMLA), 2002, which directly infringes upon his right to personal liberty enshrined in the Constitution. Section 50 empowers the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to summon an accused and record a statement.
The statement is admissible as evidence in court. Notably, Soren skipped the first summons on August 14 and sent a letter to ED asking it to withdraw the summons or he will be forced to take legal action against the agency.
But, the ED again issued a summon against Soren asking him to appear before it on August 24. Soren skipped it again and sent a letter to ED saying that he had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to him, but he was summoned again by ED for the third time. Soren is waiting for the hearing of his petition in the Supreme Court on Monday, but before that, he was issued a fresh summons by ED asking to appear before it on September 23. ED is probing two major cases of money laundering in Jharkhand. The first case is related to illegal mining in Sahibganj in which the CM was questioned on November 17 last year.
While, the second case is related to an alleged land scam in the state capital for which Soren has been issued summons twice by the ED. 13 people, including IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan and two businessmen, Amit Agarwal of Kolkata and Bishnu Agarwal, who own shopping malls in Ranchi, have already been arrested in connection with the alleged land scam.
