A court in Ranchi on Monday summoned jailed former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for allegedly disobeying notices from the Enforcement Directorate issued to him in connection with charges of money laundering in a land grab case, PTI reported.
The court asked Hemant Soren to appear before it on April 3 after the central law enforcement agency submitted that he had not appeared before it for questioning despite seven summons issued to him since August 14.
The Enforcement Directorate sought that charges be brought against Hemant Soren under the Indian Penal Code section 174 (non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant).
“From the contents of the complainant [ED] and the material placed on record, prima facie offence under section 174 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, is made out and there are sufficient grounds for proceedings under Section 204 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, against accused Hemant Soren,” Chief Judicial Magistrate Krishna Kant Mishra said in an order.
On January 31, Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case, shortly after he resigned as the state’s chief minister. He was questioned by the central law enforcement agency before being taken into custody.
Two days later, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party leader Champai Soren took oath as the state’s chief minister.
The party has accused the BJP government at the Centre of conspiring to topple the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha state government. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is a member of the Opposition INDIA bloc, a coalition of 28 parties that are attempting to take on the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the upcoming general elections.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the anti-corruption body Lokpal directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to complete within six months a probe into the alleged benami properties linked to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren, PTI reported.
The order came on the complaint filed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who represents Jharkhand's Godda constituency in the Lok Sabha.
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