No one is above law: Jharkhand Governor over ED summons to CM Soren

RANCHI: Reacting over the Enforcement Directorate's summons to Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the protest held by the party workers, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Monday said that nobody is above the law. The Governor also called the rumours being circulated that the Centre wants to impose the President's rule in the State a "guesswork".

Responding to JMM's protest against ED action in the state, he said, "ED has its own duty and I personally feel that the party should not get involved in this type of action. This is creating unnecessary tension between the two political parties. That is not required. Nobody is above the law. We should not create such a situation that we become superior to the law."

Workers of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have expressed their growing resentment against the ED by holding protests and blocking roads in several districts. Referring to Soren skipping summons of ED, the Governor said, "If CM is not responding today, he has to respond tomorrow. As a true citizen, we must obey.

The law and order situation is not very satisfactory. I have expressed this too many times. Action has to be taken." Meanwhile, JMM leader Supriyo Bhattacharya said that CM Soren is ready to answer the Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s questions on January 31, in connection with a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

"A false notion is being created regarding the action of ED against the Chief Minister in Delhi. CM has gone to Delhi for personal work and will return soon. We are ready to answer on January 31, we have told ED," Bhattacharya said. Notably, CM Soren left Ranchi for Delhi on January 27. However, as per the sources, the central agency issued a fresh summons to Jharkhand CM Soren and asked him to be available for questioning on January 29 or 31, or else the agency itself will go to him for questioning.

This is the tenth summons in the land scam case. Earlier on January 22, ED issued summons to Soren for the ninth time asking him to be available for questioning between January 27 to 31 in the case. Meanwhile, on January 20, the Enforcement Directorate arrived in Ranchi to question the Jharkhand Chief Minister in the land scam case.

The eighth summon was issued to Soren on January 13, asking him to be available for questioning between January 16 to 20, in the case. ED had previously issued a summons to Jharkhand CM Soren's press advisor, Abhishek Prasad, to join its investigation on January 16 into an alleged money laundering probe linked to an illegal mining case.

The central agency concluded its day-long search of Soren's media advisor Abhishek Prasad's residence in Ranchi earlier on January 3.