The
Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant
Soren's plea against the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) summons in a case of
alleged money laundering.
A
bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi granted Soren the
liberty to approach the Jharkhand High Court for relief in the matter.
Senior
advocate Mukul Rohatgi claimed in the court that this is a complete case of a
witch-hunt.
"Mr
Rohatgi, why don't you go to the high court? No no, go to the high court. We
will permit you to withdraw," the bench said. The matter was dismissed as
withdrawn.
Additional
Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, submitted that the issue is
covered by a large number of judgments.
Soren
has moved the apex court challenging the summons sent to him to depose at the
federal agency's office in Ranchi on August 14 and record his statement under
the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Earlier,
Soren had skipped the ED's summons in an alleged defence land scam case citing
pre-scheduled events.
The
48-year-old Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader was interrogated for over nine hours
by the ED on November 17 last year in connection with another money-laundering
case linked to alleged illegal mining in the state.
The
central probe agency is investigating more than a dozen land deals, including
one related to defence land, wherein a group of mafia, middlemen and
bureaucrats allegedly connived to forge deeds and documents of as long back as
1932.
The
ED has arrested several people so far in the state, including Soren's political
aide Pankaj Mishra.
Soren was initially summoned by the ED on November
3, 2022, but he did not appear citing official engagements. He had even dared
the central probe agency to arrest him and then sought a three-week deferment
of the summons.