Soon after the State Government made guidelines for its officers to deal with summons issued for appearance by ‘external’ investigating agencies and a letter sent by State Cabinet Secretary to the Enforcement Directorate seeking information on the reasons government officials are being summoned by it, the ED on Saturday is learnt to have sent a letter to Chief Minister Hemant Soren seeking his appearance for questioning in the alleged land scam by January 20.
The letter is sent after seven summons to the CM in the case, but he has not appeared even once before the ED officials asking the reason behind calling him. ED had sent the first summons on August 14, 2023.
Notably, the CM has been questioning the intentions of the ED for summoning him. Soren had filed a petition in the Supreme Court and later in the Jharkhand High Court, terming the summons unfair and seeking protection from ED action. But, both the courts rejected his petitions. He had said to the high court that the summons were issued maliciously and false allegations were made against him with the sole purpose of creating political uncertainty and unrest in Jharkhand.
In the seventh summon, ED had told Soren that it was very important to record his statement in the land scam case. Therefore, if he wishes, he can decide on a place where his statement can be taken. It was also written in the letter that the Chief Minister should record his statement within the next two days.
After the seventh summon the CM sent a letter to the ED stating that he would cooperate with the agency in the investigation, but first it should be made clear to him why the agency was calling him. He also alleged that the media gets to know about the summons before him and he has to face a media trial.