Chief Minister Hemant Soren has got interim relief from the Jharkhand High Court. On Wednesday, a bench of Justice A.K. Chaudhary exempted him from personally appearing before the MP-MLA Special Court in Ranchi in a case related to alleged disobedience of Enforcement Directorate (ED) summonses. The bench has sought a reply from the ED in this matter. The next hearing will be on December 16.

It is noteworthy that on November 26, the MP-MLA Court of Ranchi rejected CM Hemant Soren's petition for exemption from personal appearance in the court and directed him to appear on December 4. Hemant Soren had challenged this order in the High Court.

Two days before the oath-taking ceremony of Hemant Soren government, caretaker Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday (November 26, 2024) received a major setback when the MP/MLA Court in Ranchi rejected his plea to be exempted from personally appearing in court to answer charges that he repeatedly ignored summonses issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The central agency had accused him of contempt in a petition filed before the chief judicial magistrate court on February 19, saying that Soren had failed to appear in eight out of ten summonses issued in connection with an alleged land scam, related to the illegal occupation of 8.86 acres of land in Ranchi.

Aggrieved by this order, Soren moved the Jharkhand High Court. His legal team, comprising advocates Piyush Chitresh, Dipankar Roy, and Shrey Mishra, argued the case during Wednesday’s hearing.

The ED had lodged a complaint against Hemant Soren in the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court on February 19 alleging non-compliance with multiple summonses issued in connection with an alleged land scam case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Section 174 of the IPC.

The CJM court took cognisance of the matter on March 4 before transferring it to the MP-MLA Special Court.

The ED’s investigation centres on allegations of money laundering in the alleged land scam, with the first summons issued on August 14, 2023. Subsequent summonses were sent on August 19, September 1, September 17, September 26, December 11, and December 29 in 2023, followed by January 13, January 22, and January 27 in 2024. Soren was interrogated following the tenth summons on January 31, 2024.

After appearing on the tenth summons on January 31 this year, Soren was questioned and subsequently arrested.

Soren later filed a petition on July 5, 2024, seeking exemption from personal appearance in the MP-MLA Special Court. However, this petition was rejected by Judge Sarthak Sharma, leading to the current appeal before the High Court.