Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's legal troubles have taken a new turn as the Supreme Court declined to entertain his plea against the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) summons in a money laundering case. The ED had summoned Soren to appear at their Ranchi office on August 14, as part of their investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi, has granted Soren the option to seek relief from the Jharkhand High Court in this matter, effectively denying him immediate respite from the ED's summons, PTI reported.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seized this opportunity to criticize Soren, with BJP spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam expressing confidence that Soren's alleged involvement in corruption would not go unnoticed. Zafar Islam claimed that Soren's actions could lead to an ED probe, emphasizing that Soren had previously evaded appearing before the ED in November 2022 and had been interrogated for over nine hours in connection with another money laundering case involving alleged illegal mining in the state.
The ED's investigation spans more than a dozen land deals, including one related to defense land, which allegedly involved collusion between a group of mafia, middlemen, and bureaucrats to manipulate deeds and documents dating back to 1932. Several individuals, including Soren's political aide Pankaj Mishra, have already been arrested in connection with this investigation.
The BJP spokesperson further alleged that Soren, who is a member of the INDI Alliance, had been involved in various scams worth Rs 10,000-20,000 crore through misuse of his power and position in the state. Zafar Islam rejected claims that the BJP-led Centre was using the ED to target Soren for political reasons, stating that the ED's actions were based on the alleged scams involving the Chief Minister.
Soren faces accusations of involvement in scams related to coal block allocation, illegal mining, misuse of rural development funds, and the alleged acquisition of land under fake names across Jharkhand. The BJP spokesperson accused Soren of collaborating with the "ghamandia gathbandhan" (INDIA bloc of opposition parties), which he alleged promoted corruption, nepotism, and appeasement politics within the state.
