"Hemant Soren govt looted Jharkhand in last 3 years": Union Minister Arjun Munda

New Delhi: Coming down heavily on former Jharkhand CM and JMM chief Hemant Soren, Union Minister and former Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda said on Friday said that the government led by Soren had looted the state in the last three years.
"The Hemant Soren government has looted Jharkhand in the last 3 years, and incidents of land scams, mining scams, private leases, and others came to the fore. Instead of telling people the truth, he tried to avoid it all. So, he is failing to give a reply today. An investigation is going on," he said.
Munda said that the country wants to go ahead with good governance.
"I think the country wants to go ahead with good governance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to increase the image and credit of India at the international level. It is a matter of pride that the President of India is a woman, and that she is also from a tribal community," he said.
Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED after several summons in the alleged land scam case and several hours of questioning on Wednesday night.
The former CM later moved the Supreme Court against his arrest, but the court refused to entertain his plea, challenging his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in the land deal case and asked him to approach the concerned High Court with his petition.
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh, and Bela M Trivedi said that they are not inclined to entertain the petition.
"We are not inclined to entertain the present petition," adding that it left open to petitioner to approach the jurisdictional HC. The top court also said that it is open for the petitioner to urge the high court to expeditiously decide the case," the court stated.
When the bench assembled early in the morning, the court asked the petitioner's lawyer, "Why don't you approach HC"?
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Soren, submitted that the matter deals with a Chief Minister who has been arrested. The top court remarked courts are open to everybody and high courts are constitutional. If they allow one person then they have to allow everybody, the top court said.
Soren challenged the ED's summons dated January 22, 2024, and January 25, 2024, purportedly issued under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, as illegal, null, and void, and accordingly quash the impugned summons and all steps taken and proceedings emanating therefrom.
The JMM chief claimed that he has been facing constant harassment at the hands of the ED, alleging that the probe agency was misusing its authority and powers at the bidding of its political masters.
The probe pertains to proceeds of crime generated by allegedly forging official records by showing 'fake sellers' and purchasers in the guise of forged or bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores.