Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday gave the Enforcement Directorate (ED) three weeks’ time to respond to an affidavit filed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. The ED had filed a case in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of an FIR registered by Hemant Soren against the probe agency officials under the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste (Prevention of Atrocity) Act.
Soren had filed the case against ED officials at the SC/ST police station here for conducting searches at his residences in Delhi and Ranchi in January last year.
The Jharkhand CM had alleged that the ED’s actions were aimed at ‘humiliating tribals’, prompting him to register the case. The investigating officer of the case issued notices asking ED officers to appear and explain their innocence.
CM Soren’s case against ED
Soren filed the case against ED director Kapil Raj, assistant directors Devrat Jha, Anuman Kumar, Aman Patel and several unknown persons. Kapil Raj and other officials approached the HC challenging the notice issued against them and the criminal proceedings initiated.
During the proceedings, Soren filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, refuting the statements of ED officials and justifying the FIR. The ED sought time to respond to Soren’s statement.
In the FIR, filed in January last year, Soren alleged that the ED had conducted the search operation at his residence in Delhi to “harass and defame him and his entire community”, officials said. “My family members and I have suffered immense mental, psychological and emotional damage due to the acts committed,” Soren said in the FIR, according to officials.
Hemant Soren’s arrest
In connection with an alleged money laundering case linked to a land deal in Jharkhand, an ED team had in January last year searched Soren’s residence in Delhi where they had camped for nearly 13 hours to interrogate him in connection with an alleged money laundering case was related to a land transaction in Jharkhand.
He was arrested on January 31 after a marathon seven-hour grilling by the Enforcement Directorate in the same case and was released on bail on June 28, 2024. The FIR was under sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities). ) Action. These include charges relating to bringing false, malicious or vexatious legal proceedings or criminal proceedings against a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe, as well as insulting or intimidating them “with intent to humiliate” a public place.
(With PTI inputs)