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Enforcement Directorate (ED), through affidavit, has submitted before Jharkhand High Court that during the course of the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the secretary of the mining department Pooja Singhal had a role in the allotment of the mining lease to respondent number seven who happens to be Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
"The said material pertains to allotment of the lease in favour of respondent number 7 which is the subject matter of W.P. (PIL) number 727 of 2022," read the affidavit. Notably, Chief Minister Hemant Soren is respondent number 7 in the said Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one Shiv Shankar Sharma seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Soren for getting a stone mining lease allotted in his name, completely misusing his official position. ED has also informed that role of some companies has also emerged. These companies are spread over the jurisdiction beyond the state of Jharkhand. Today, the Jharkhand High Court has deferred the hearing of petitions pertaining to shell companies, the mining lease of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the MGNREGA scam for May 24, after senior lawyer Kapil Sibal informed the court that the Jharkhand government has filed a petition at the Supreme Court against the order passed by Jharkhand High Court a day before yesterday in these cases. While hearing the matters bench of chief justice doctor Ravi Ranjan and Justice SN Prasad observed the matter as of Paramount Public Interest. Later on, Kapil Sibal said that the petition of the Jharkhand government is likely to be taken up tomorrow before the Supreme Court. Upon this, the High Court conceded the demand and fixed the hearing for May 24. (ANI)
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