India: ‘Absconding’ Jharkhand CM Soren chairs meeting in Ranchi; Section 144 imposed around residence

In India's Jharkhand, section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure(CrPC) has been put in place within a 100-metre radius of the Chief Minister Hemant Soren's residence in Raj Bhavan and Enforcement Directorate office in Ranchi. Amidallegations by the Bharatiya Janata Party that the JMM chief was "absconding" to avoid the Enforcement Directorate's probe into an alleged land scam case, Soren on Tuesday (Jan 30th) chaired a meeting with ministers of his ruling coalition.

This comes after Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials seized a luxury car belonging to the Jharkhand CM from his Delhi residence in connection with the ongoing probe into a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

What isSection 144?

Section 144 of the CrPC of 1973 authorises the Executive Magistrate of any state or territory to issue an order to prohibit the assembly of four or more people in an area.

Soren to record statement on Wednesday

In a letter to the Enforcement Directorate, Soren said that he will record his statement before the agency officials at 1 pm on Wednesday (Jan 31st) at his Ranchi residence. He also alleged that questioning him at this time— around budget— was a political move and was meant to disrupt the functioning of his government.

"You are well aware that the Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly will be held between 2nd and 29th February 2024 and the undersigned will be pre-occupied with preparations for the same apart from other prior scheduled official engagements," said Soren'sletter to ED's Ranchi office.

"In these circumstances, your insistence to record a further statement of the undersigned on or before 31 January 2024 reeks of malice and reveals your political agenda to disrupt the functioning of the State Government and prevent an elected representative of the people from discharging his official duties," it added.

The "acts are malafide and politically motivated (and) stand vindicated. The issuance of summon to the undersigned is wholly vexatious and in colourable exercise of powers given by the statute," alleged the letter.

(With inputs from agencies)