Aastha Thakur
Published on: 07 November 2022 at 15:32 IST
The Supreme Court ruled that the Public Interest Litigation petitions filed in the Jharkhand High Court requesting an investigation into the Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren for alleged money laundering are not maintainable.
The High Court’s judgement upholding the PILs that sought an investigation into Soren for suspected money laundering through shell companies and acquiring a mining lease while in office was overturned by the Apex Court.
The decision was reserved by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit, Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia. As per the Justice Dhulia, the court has accepted the appeals brought by the Jharkhand State government and CM Soren contesting the High Court’s decision to accept the maintainability of the PILs.
Senior Kapil Sibal representing the State Government contended an various submissions showcasing the
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for State government submitted an array of submissions which included, showing the original petitioner’s dubious behaviour, the High Court’s failure to first consider maintainability despite the Supreme Court’s order, and the Enforcement Directorate’s presenting files under seal without any evidence linking Soren.
Mukul Rohtagi appearing for the CM Soren submitted how the petitioner and his counsel suppressed the PILs that were filed by them, how no credentials were shown to the court’s satisfaction, and how there was no prima facie evidence to satisfy the High Court in this case.
In response to these arguments, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate, said that petitions that raise important questions about illegal activity shouldn’t be rejected on the basis of technicality.
The Supreme Court, in preceding hearings directed the Jharkhand High Court to examine the PILs seeking CBI/ED investigation against Jharkhand CM Soren in relation to grant of mining lease, allegations of MNREGA scam and transfer of money into shell companies.