Soren, who is now a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP), approached the Court challenging the proceedings before the Lokpal and its order dated August 4, 2022, through which proceedings were directed to be initiated to determine whether a prima facie case exists to proceed further against him.
The allegations against the former Chief Minister are that he amassed huge wealth, properties and assets by adopting unscrupulous and corrupt means in the State of Jharkhand over a period of more than ten years.
The assets, it is alleged, are not only in his own name but even in the names of his family members including sons, daughters, daughter-in-law, friends and various companies in various districts of Jharkhand such as Ranchi, Dhanbad and Dumka etc.
The JMM patriarch has termed the allegations and the complaint mischievous, false, frivolous and motivated and a rambling yarn spun by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey.
According to his plea, the proceedings before the Lokpal were initiated pursuant to a complaint dated August 5, 2020, and that although the CBI commenced a preliminary enquiry sometime in July 2021 against him, his wife and children, no copy of the complaint was provided to Soren till the end of February 2022.
In an order dated January 22, 2024, a single-judge had held that Soren’s plea was premature as the Lokpal was yet to apply its mind to the information provided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and decide whether an investigation is necessary or not.
The single-judge rejected the argument that the complaint filed against Soren’s client was completely motivated and Lokpal would invariably order investigation.
This led to the appeal before the division bench.
Source: Barandbench
