The Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court here on Monday deferred framing charges against Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in connection with an alleged land scam money laundering case, people aware of the development said.
A civil court lawyer close to the matter informed that the reason for the deferment was technical. Soren had skipped the preceding Saturday hearing, citing a busy official schedule. The court has now scheduled the next hearing for September 24 at 3 PM, where Soren is directed to appear via video conferencing. “The court had previously made Soren’s appearance mandatory by 4 PM on Monday allowing for either physical or virtual presence after the Jharkhand High Court on September 18 refused to stay the trial proceedings. Advocate General Rohistasya Roy confirmed the new September 24 hearing date but did not comment on the technical reasons behind the deferment.
However, Monday’s scheduled appearance and the subsequent framing of charges could not take place due to a technical server failure,” the lawyer said.
A civil court advocate close to the matter said before the court deferred the hearing on technical grounds, a petition was filed demanding unrelied-upon documents but it was withdrawn. However, the same petition was withdrawn,” the advocate said.
“Before the court deferred the hearing, Soren’s legal team had filed a petition demanding unrelied-upon documents from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and requested the court to defer framing of the charge until the documents were supplied.
Legally, the accused has a right to know about or inspect them to ensure a fair trial.”
Explaining unrelied-upon documents the advocate said: “Unrelied-upon documents are materials, statements, or evidence collected by an investigating agency during an investigation that the prosecution chooses not to use to prove the accused’s guilt.
