The Jharkhand High Court has requested Chief Minister Hemant Soren to address the shortcomings in his legal petition challenging the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) summons related to an alleged money laundering case.

A panel led by Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Ananda Sen has scheduled the next hearing for this case on October 11th.

The court instructed Chief Minister Hemant Soren's legal representatives to rectify the mistakes in the petition, which had been submitted on September 23rd.

Hemant Soren's decision to take action in this matter followed the Supreme Court's rejection of his appeal against the summons. On September 18th, a panel composed of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi granted the Chief Minister the permission to seek relief from the Jharkhand High Court regarding this issue.

In his petition, Hemant Soren requested the high court to halt the enforcement of the summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Additionally, he raised concerns about the jurisdiction of the investigating agency in summoning him for the case.

The executive president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has also claimed that one of the reasons for being harassed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is political vengeance.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued a summons to Soren, instructing him to appear at the ED's office in Ranchi on August 14. Additionally, they asked him to provide his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

He had also chosen not to respond to the Enforcement Directorate's summons in an alleged defense land scam case, citing prior commitments and pre-scheduled events. The agency has requested Soren to appear at its office on four occasions, but he has chosen not to attend.

According to sources, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) plans to interrogate the chief minister regarding land scams worth millions of rupees, which allegedly involve the land mafia, high-ranking bureaucrats, and politicians.

The 48-year-old JMM leader underwent an extensive questioning session lasting more than nine hours by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 17th of the previous year. This interrogation was related to a separate money-laundering case associated with alleged illegal mining activities in the state.

The central investigative agency is currently examining over a dozen land transactions, including one involving defense land. In these cases, a coalition of individuals, including members of the mafia, intermediaries, and bureaucrats, is suspected of conspiring to falsify property deeds and documents dating as far back as 1932.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken into custody numerous individuals within the state, among them being Pankaj Mishra, who is a political associate of Soren.

Soren was first issued a summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 3, 2022. However, he did not appear for questioning, citing official commitments.