NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to provide any relief to Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, who had filed a plea against ED summons in a money laundering case.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi asked the Jharkhand chief minister to move to the concerned high court with his plea. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Soren, then moved to withdraw the plea.
In his petition, Soren had said that the ED case against him was a clear case of abuse of law by the Central Government and misuse of the Central agencies to destabilize democratically elected government of Jharkhand of which he is the chief minister.
The Enforcement Directorate had asked Soren to join its investigation in the alleged money laundering case on August 24, but the Jharkhand chief minister did not appear before the central agency on that day.
In his plea, Soren has urged the top court to declare Section 50 and Section 63 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 as ultra vires to the Constitution of India and to issue appropriate direction to declare the summons against him as illegal and null and void. He also sought to quash summons against him and all steps taken and proceedings emanating therefrom.
“As sentinel on the que vive, this Court has the Constitutional mandate to quash any act of the Union Government which is vitiated by malice and designed to interfere with the franchise exercised by the people of Jharkhand. With the General Election approaching soon in next seven to eight months, the political atmosphere in country has been vitiated by the ruling regime and all efforts have been made to threaten, humiliate and intimidate the political leaders, and particularly, when the opposition has united to form INDIA alliance in which Petitioner and his party are vocal participant and integral part of alliance and who are not aligned with the NDA,” the petition read.
Soren claimed in the court that summons were issued against him out of malice and false allegations have been levelled against him with the sole motive to create political uncertainty and unrest in the State.
The Jharkhand chief minister also told the court that he has duly provided details of all movable and immovable properties owned by him and his family along with certified copies of the title deed thereof.
Soren was earlier summoned by the ED in mid-August in connection with an alleged land scam case. However, Soren did not join the central agency probe stating that he was busy with the preparation for the Independence Day celebration in the state. He was again asked to appear on August 24 and September 9 but he did not appear before the probe agency.
Earlier the Chief Minister had confronted the federal agency asking it to withdraw the summons against him or else he will take legal action. In his letter, Soren had said that he has provided all necessary documents and information.
He wrote, if the ED needs any information, it can refer to the documents, he mentioned in his letter. He has also alleged that the ED has summoned him on August 14, on the instructions of its political masters.
“Your choice of the date of 14th August does not come as a surprise to the undersigned (Hemant Soren). You and your political masters are fully aware that being the chief minister of the state of Jharkhand, the undersigned is scheduled to hoist the national flag on the occasion of the 77th independence day of the Republic of India on 15th August 2023,” Soren had written.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi asked the Jharkhand chief minister to move to the concerned high court with his plea. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Soren, then moved to withdraw the plea.
In his petition, Soren had said that the ED case against him was a clear case of abuse of law by the Central Government and misuse of the Central agencies to destabilize democratically elected government of Jharkhand of which he is the chief minister.
The Enforcement Directorate had asked Soren to join its investigation in the alleged money laundering case on August 24, but the Jharkhand chief minister did not appear before the central agency on that day.
In his plea, Soren has urged the top court to declare Section 50 and Section 63 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 as ultra vires to the Constitution of India and to issue appropriate direction to declare the summons against him as illegal and null and void. He also sought to quash summons against him and all steps taken and proceedings emanating therefrom.
“As sentinel on the que vive, this Court has the Constitutional mandate to quash any act of the Union Government which is vitiated by malice and designed to interfere with the franchise exercised by the people of Jharkhand. With the General Election approaching soon in next seven to eight months, the political atmosphere in country has been vitiated by the ruling regime and all efforts have been made to threaten, humiliate and intimidate the political leaders, and particularly, when the opposition has united to form INDIA alliance in which Petitioner and his party are vocal participant and integral part of alliance and who are not aligned with the NDA,” the petition read.
Soren claimed in the court that summons were issued against him out of malice and false allegations have been levelled against him with the sole motive to create political uncertainty and unrest in the State.
The Jharkhand chief minister also told the court that he has duly provided details of all movable and immovable properties owned by him and his family along with certified copies of the title deed thereof.
Soren was earlier summoned by the ED in mid-August in connection with an alleged land scam case. However, Soren did not join the central agency probe stating that he was busy with the preparation for the Independence Day celebration in the state. He was again asked to appear on August 24 and September 9 but he did not appear before the probe agency.
Earlier the Chief Minister had confronted the federal agency asking it to withdraw the summons against him or else he will take legal action. In his letter, Soren had said that he has provided all necessary documents and information.
He wrote, if the ED needs any information, it can refer to the documents, he mentioned in his letter. He has also alleged that the ED has summoned him on August 14, on the instructions of its political masters.
“Your choice of the date of 14th August does not come as a surprise to the undersigned (Hemant Soren). You and your political masters are fully aware that being the chief minister of the state of Jharkhand, the undersigned is scheduled to hoist the national flag on the occasion of the 77th independence day of the Republic of India on 15th August 2023,” Soren had written.