RANCHI: In a major relief to the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Jharkhand High Court on Monday ordered no coercive action against them in a case related to FIR lodged by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren at ST/SC police station in Ranchi on January 31. Soren in his FIR had charged the ED officials of harassing him for being a tribal and bringing disrepute to him in the eyes of the general people.
The FIR was lodged against ED officials Kapil Raj, Deovrat Jha, Anupam Kumar, Aman Patel and others under Section 3(1) (P)(R)(S)(U) of ST-SC(PA) Act. Soren in his letter had alleged that the ED conducted the searches at his residence at Shantiniketan and Jharkhand Bhawan on January 27 to tarnish his image.
The move was taken by Hemant Soren in response to the recent search operation conducted by the central probe agency at Soren's residence in Delhi.
The ED team, during their 13-hour search at Soren's Delhi residence on January 29 and 30, claimed to have seized Rs 36 lakh, an SUV, and several "incriminating" documents in connection to a money laundering case linked to an alleged land deal in Jharkhand.
The Jharkhand High Court has already rejected the petition filed by former Chief Minister Hemant Soren seeking permission to attend Budget Session of Jharkhand Assembly. Soren had moved High Court against the PMLA Court's order denying him permission for the same.
Soren, who is currently lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail in connection with a money laundering case linked to land scam, had filed a petition in PMLA Court in Ranchi on February 20 seeking permission to attend the Budget Session of Jharkhand Assembly starting from February 23.
Earlier on February 5, the PMLA court had allowed Soren’s petition seeking permission to attend the floor test of Chief Minister Champai Soren at the Jharkhand Assembly.