SC sets aside maintainability of PILs against Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren

'Not proper for HC to consider PIL on mere allegation'

The Supreme Court Monday set aside the Jharkhand High Court's order, which had upheld the maintainability of PILs against Chief Minister Hemant Soren in connection with charges of money laundering through shell companies and obtaining a mining lease to himself.

"It was not proper for the High Court to entertain a PIL, based on mere allegations and half-baked truth, that too at the hands of a person who has not been able to fully satisfy his credentials and has come to the court with unclean hands," a bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia said.

The top court also clarified it was not for a moment saying that people who occupied high offices should not be investigated. But for a High Court to take cognisance of the matter on these generalised submissions which do not even make prima facie satisfaction of the court, is nothing but an abuse of the process of the court.

The court allowed appeals by Soren and the state government while noting the allegations of money laundering through shell companies have not been supplemented by any kind of evidence.

"The names of persons who are allegedly responsible for the operation of these companies have been mentioned, but without producing any concrete evidence, it has been stated that these persons are connected/close aides or related to the Chief Minister. Further, none of the companies have been made a party to the present PILs, before the High Court," the bench said.

Justice Dhulia, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said the petitioner, Shiv Shankar Sharma, in this case is admittedly the son of Dr Gautam Sharma who was one of the witnesses for the prosecution in a criminal case against the father of the present Chief Minister and therefore the Chief Minister has alleged an old enmity and personal vendetta at the hands of the petitioner.

"To our mind, in spite of such objection, the PIL could have been heard, had the petitioner come before the Court with clean hands. He has deliberately and wilfully withheld from the court that an earlier writ petition (2013) was filed on similar grounds seeking similar reliefs which was dismissed by the High Court with costs. This was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014," the bench said.

On August 17, the apex court stayed the proceedings before the High Court in PILs.

On May 23, it directed the High Court to first decide the maintainability of three PILs seeking CBI/ED investigation against Jharkhand CM Soren in relation to the grant of mining lease, allegations of MNREGA scam and transfer of money into shell companies.

On June 3, the High Court accepted the maintainability of the two petitions filed by Sharma.

One of the PILs before the High Court sought direction to the ED to investigate 16 FIRs pertaining to alleged offences arising out of the disbursement of MGNREGA funds in 2010. The other sought a probe into the alleged transfer of money by the Soren family into certain companies. The third PIL sought sanctioning prosecution of the Chief Minister, for obtaining mining leases under his own name.

The Enforcement Directorate had earlier submitted that material recovered from IAS officer Pooja Singhal, after her arrest, showed a direct linkage with political higher-ups.