Law Notify, January 15, 2026 : In a legal setback for Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Jharkhand High Court on Thursday permitted the continuation of trial proceedings in a case linked to the alleged defiance of summonses issued by the Enforcement Directorate in a purported land scam.
A single-judge bench of Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary dismissed Soren’s plea seeking to quash the proceedings pending before the MP-MLA special court. At the same time, the High Court granted him relief by exempting him from personal appearance during the trial.
The MP-MLA court had initiated judicial proceedings after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the ED. Questioning this order, Soren had approached the High Court, arguing that the case deserved to be dismissed.
The ED’s complaint, filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in February 2024, alleged that the Chief Minister repeatedly failed to comply with summonses issued for questioning in connection with an alleged land scam involving Ranchi’s Bargain circle.
Challenging the cognisance order, Soren contended that he had submitted written replies to the ED for summonses he was unable to attend and had appeared in response to subsequent notices after earlier summonses had lapsed.
