Land scam case: Hemant Soren skips 5 ED summons, crucial hearing in Jharkhand High Court HC tomorrow

Ranchi, Oct 5 (IANS) Jharkhand High Court is set to hear the plea of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who has skipped five summons of the Enforecement Directorate (ED) in the land scam case.

Soren's counsel Piyush Chitresh had mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Justice Anand Sen which listed it for hearing on October 6 (Friday).

In his plea, Soren contended that the summons issued by the ED are illegal and challenged the validity of various sections of the PMLA. 

Former Ranchi DC Chavi Ranjan, realtors Vishnu Agarwal and Amit Agarwal are in jail in connection with the case.

The ED had been sending sunmons to Soren asking him to appear at its regional office but he ducked all of them. However, he replied to each summon saying he is challenging it in the court.

The summons should be adjourned till court's order on the matter is pronounced, he had said.

The ED had issued summons to Soren on August 8, 19 and September 1 asking him to appear before it on August 14, 24 and September 9, respectively. 

In the meanwhile, Soren had submitted a writ petition in the Supreme Court.

After that the ED issued the fourth summon and asked him to appear before on September 23. The fifth summon asked him to appear before it on October 4.

Dismissing Soren's plea, the Supreme Court had asked his counsel Mukul Rohtagi to move the state High Court. 

After getting the plea listed in the High Court, now all eyes are on it.