The Supreme Court on September 18, 2023, advised Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to approach the State High Court against an Enforcement Directorate (ED) summon in an alleged money laundering case.
A Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi allowed Mr. Soren, represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, to withdraw with liberty to move the High Court.
Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, for the ED, said Mr. Soren had challenged even a summon to him.
“He has every right to challenge,” Justice Trivedi said.
Mr. Soren had petitioned the Supreme Court instead of responding to the summons, the second in a row, issued to him by the ED in an alleged case of money laundering related to the fraudulent sale of land in the State capital.
The Enforcement Directorate is investigating property deals allegedly involving the land mafia, intermediaries and bureaucrats suspected of forging deeds dating back to 1932.
In November last year, the Supreme Court had rejected petitions filed against Mr. Soren for a CBI probe into allegations of money laundering and obtaining an illegal mining lease.
Mr. Soren, who was questioned in November last year, had consistently claimed that the opposition BJP in the State was conspiring to undermine his government.
