Court Summons Hemant Soren For Disobeying Probe Agency's Order In Land Scam Case

A court here has summoned incarcerated former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren next month holding him prima facie guilty of disobeying notices issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate.

The agency had filed a complaint against the senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader last month, stating he failed to join the investigation in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land grab case even after seven summonses were issued to him under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The first such notice was issued to Mr Soren for his appearance before the ED on August 14 last year.

Hemant Soren should be prosecuted under the Indian Penal Code section 174 (non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had requested the court in its complaint filed under sections of the PMLA and the IPC.

The former CM was arrested by the federal probe agency on January 31 on money laundering charges following a second round of questioning at his official residence in Ranchi. He resigned as chief minister before he was arrested. The 48-year-old JMM leader is under judicial custody at present.

"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," the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Krishna Kant Mishra said in its order issued on Monday.

"Office is directed to issue summons for appearance of accused person," the court said and fixed April 3 as the next date of hearing.

A similar complaint has been filed by the ED against Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal before a Delhi court for allegedly disobeying the agency's summonses three times.

The matter is listed for next hearing on March 16. Eight summonses have been issued to Mr Kejriwal till now and he has not deposed, calling these notices illegal.

Mr Kejriwal has last told the ED to question him over a video-conferencing platform.

A person found guilty under section 174 of the IPC can be punished with simple imprisonment for a term upto one month, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.

Section 63(4) of the PMLA also enables prosecution under section 174 of the IPC for disobedience of any direction under Section 50 of the Act.

Section 204 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) pertains to the powers of a magistrate to issue summons or warrant for the attendance of an accused.

In its complaint against Soren, the ED has alleged that he "intentionally omitted to obey the summons and to attend at the place and time mentioned in the summons", leading to non-compliance of the summonses issued by the investigation officer under Section 50(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The money laundering investigation against Soren relates to an alleged fraudulent acquisition of 8.5 acre of land in Ranchi by him, apart from "several other properties linked to him".

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)