Don't respond: Jharkhand government to departments on central agencies inquiries
The Jharkhand government on Tuesday directed all departments of the state to avoid directly responding to inquiries or providing documents to central probe agencies, such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Instead, they have been asked to report to the Cabinet Secretariat or the Vigilance Department for processing inquiries. This move comes in the wake of multiple ED summonses to Chief Minister Hemant Soren and other officials in a land scam case.
Why does this story matter?
The ED has issued seven notices to Soren so far for questioning in a money laundering case linked to a "huge racket of illegal changes of ownership of land by the mafia was going on in Jharkhand." He has skipped all the summons. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the fifth summons, seeking protection from ED action. However, it directed him to approach the Jharkhand High Court, which dismissed his petition.
SOP to deal with central probe agencies
To address the issue of repeated summons, the Jharkhand cabinet developed a standard operating procedure (SOP) for communicating with central agencies, per PTI. The Cabinet Secretariat and Vigilance Department will serve as nodal departments for handling such matters and legal actions, according to Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel. The decision was taken during a meeting led by CM Soren with the aim of preventing the sharing of documents with external agencies without informing state officials.
More about new SOP on notices, summonses
As per the new SOP, if an official receives a notice from an external investigation agency, they must promptly inform their department heads. The nodal department will then seek legal advice, and the official will cooperate with the investigation agency as needed. Experts reportedly view this development as a form of non-cooperation with central agencies. This will likely escalate the face-off with the Centre as the JMM is a constituent of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc.
ED issued 7 summons against Soren
The ED has summoned Soren and several officers for questioning regarding alleged corruption cases involving illegal land ownership changes and illegal mining in Jharkhand. Soren has evaded six previous ED summonses—on August 14, August 24, September 9, September 23, October 4, and December 12—accusing the union government of using central agencies to destabilize his democratically elected government. The seventh summons, which was also skipped, was issued on December 29 last year.
