NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday listed the appeal moved by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren against its order denying him any relief in Lokpal proceedings in connection with a disproportionate assets case, for hearing on February 20.
A bench of Justices Rekha Palli and Sudhir Kumar Jain posted the matter for Tuesday after the petitioner sought some time citing his counsel is appearing before another court.
"Taking into account that the regular bench is not sitting today, list tomorrow," the bench said.
Subsequently, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared before the bench on behalf of Soren and said the complaint is also listed before the Lokpal on Tuesday.
"It (appeal) will come in the supplementary list. It will come early," the court responded.
Last month, Justice Subramonium Prasad had dismissed Soren's plea challenging the proceedings pending before Lokpal and its earlier orders which were initiated on the basis of a complaint by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
Justice Prasad termed Soren's petition at this stage as "premature", saying that the court does not want to enter into this realm at this juncture and it is for the Lokpal to take a decision as to whether there is sufficient material to proceed further for investigation or not in order to subserve the purpose for which the Act has been brought out.
"..Writ Courts cannot substitute themselves as an authority which has been vested with a duty under the Statute to consider as to whether there is material in it or not for ordering investigation. The writ petition, therefore, is premature in nature," the order read.
Petitioner submitted that the entire complaint is completely motivated and Lokpal would invariably order for investigation cannot be accepted.
The high court, in the order, said,".. the Office of Lokpal is completely independent and an argument that the Lokpal would be influenced by political consideration cannot be countenanced. This allegation that the proceedings before the Lokpal is vitiated and can be politically motivated, cannot be accepted."
As per the allegations in the complaint, Soren and his family members including sons, daughters, daughters-inlaw, friends, associates and various companies etc. has acquired several immovable properties including plots of lands (residential, commercial and built up properties) in various districts of Jharkhand such as Ranchi, Dhanbad, Dumka etc
It was also alleged that Soren and his son Hemant Soren have invested in various companies owned by one Amit Agarwal and his family members.
Agarwal had constructed a 22 storey building in Salt Lake, Kolkata in which the Petitioner and his family members have invested huge amounts of money. It is stated that various shell companies have been incorporated for giving donations to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha which is a Political Party and the Petitioner is the President of that Party, it further alleged.
It is also stated in the complaint that the Petitioner has been indulging in corrupt practices for many years and has illegally usurped huge portions of the lands belonging to poor tribals of the Santhal tribe at throwaway prices much below the prevailing circle rates.
The Lokpal had then directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry against Soren to ascertain whether there existed a prima facie case for proceeding in the matter.
The single judge had also rejected the senior politician's allegation of "malice" and asserted that the Lokpal, which is an independent authority, was yet to apply its mind to the material provided by the CBI.
(With inputs from PTI)
