Ranchi: Welcoming the Supreme Court’s stay on the criminal proceedings initiated by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) against Jharkhand chief minister (CM) Hemant Soren on Wednesday, JMM dubbed it as a ‘slap’ on the central agency.While hearing a case filed by ED against Hemant over alleged willful disobedience of its summons issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi stayed the proceedings before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Ranchi.Reacting to it, JMM’s central general secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharjee said, “The way apex court has hit out at ED, it is once again a proof that the central agency has been acting out of political vendetta and at the behest of the BJP-led govt in the Centre.”“The SC has asked the ED to do constructive work and not invest its resources and time to probe into the pending cases. If it has anything concrete in any pending case, it should work on it and stop harassing anyone. People will resort to physical retaliation against the agency if it doesn’t mend its ways,” he added.Meanwhile, applauding SC’s suggestion on deploying judicial officers for SIR in Bengal, Supriyo said, “The manner in which SIR was held in Bihar and how it is under way in Bengal shows that the actions by Election Commission (EC) have been politically motivated. With the apex court asking the Union govt to conduct the exercise under the tabs of judicial officials, it is clear that the EC’s micro observers and observers are not apolitical. With SIR likely to begin in Jharkhand in April, we hope the process to be apolitical and not target particular community and caste. We won’t tolerate if the same is followed here.”Rebutting the charges, BJP accused JMM of distorting facts to mislead the public. BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said, “JMM’s claim that CM Hemant Soren received “historic relief” from the SC is completely misleading and contrary to facts. CM received the relief only on a technical aspect related to non-compliance with summons, while the main criminal case concerning the alleged land scam is on.”Referring to the SC’s decision on appointing judicial officers for SIR in Bengal, “The decision reflects the SC’s concern and lack of confidence in the neutrality and credibility of the local administration.”
