Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren suffered a legal setback on Thursday after the High Court permitted the trial to proceed in a case linked to his alleged non-compliance with summonses issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged land scam.
A single-judge Bench headed by Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary dismissed Soren’s plea seeking to quash the proceedings pending before the MP-MLA special court. At the same time, the court granted him relief by exempting him from appearing personally during the trial.
The MP-MLA court had initiated proceedings after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the ED. The Chief Minister had challenged this order before the High Court, arguing that the case was not maintainable.
The ED, in its complaint filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court in February 2024, alleged that Soren repeatedly ignored summonses issued in connection with an alleged land scam involving Ranchi’s Bargain circle. The agency said that despite being issued ten summonses between August 2023 and January 2024, Soren appeared in person only twice.
The agency has alleged violations under Section 63 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The CJM court took cognisance of the matter on March 4, 2024, after which it was transferred to the MP-MLA special court.
With inputs from IANS