New Delhi: The Jharkhand government’s order directing all its departments to not answer any queries by central agencies or hand over any documents to them directly is being seen by these agencies as a “knee jerk reaction” in a bid to “delay investigations” and “not cooperate”.
Speaking to ThePrint, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer said that the order is “bizarre” as it is incumbent upon the police, state or any government official to render all assistance to the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in an ongoing investigation.
The ED officer cited Section 50 (2) of the PMLA, which states that the director, additional director, joint director, deputy director or assistant director of the agency shall have power to summon any person whose attendance they consider necessary, be it to give evidence or produce any records during the course of any investigation or proceedings under this Act.
Moreover, Section 54 of the PMLA empowers and requires various regulators and authorities to assist in the enforcement of the anti-money laundering Act.
The Jharkhand government order that was issued Tuesday — at a time Chief Minister Hemant Soren has skipped seven summons by the ED in a land scam case — mandated the flow of information and documents in response to summons by central agencies only through the Department of Cabinet Secretariat and Vigilance (CS&V).
According to the standard operating procedure (SOP) put in place, officials of any government department will inform the head of the department about the inquiry, who will then intimate the CS&V department about the summons. The CS&V department will then seek appropriate legal opinion based on prevalent rules to respond to the summons issued by agencies.
“The state government has just tried to add a layer in this process, maybe to delay the investigation. But this order is pointless as the state is bound to furnish details required in an investigation by law,” the ED officer quoted earlier said.
While the Jharkhand government has said that it is streamlining the process to ensure incomplete information is not handed over, an officer from another central agency ThePrint spoke to felt the decision is “political”.
“During investigation, we ask for very specific information that requires a specific reply. We are unable to understand what the state wishes to streamline. Seeking legal opinion before submitting a document which may become part of evidence is bizarre,” the ED officer said.
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‘Order cannot restrict agencies’
A second ED officer told ThePrint that the order may delay an investigation for a few days, but it cannot restrict a probe. “Agencies ask for relevant documents needed for investigation following due procedure. This order can have serious consequences as it is a bid to withhold information.”
The officer added that under provisions of the law, the agency can compel them to furnish required documents: “There are procedures laid out in the CrPC to demand documents required for investigation. Moreover, if the documents are not provided, the agency can always move court and get directions.”
Soren is also facing ED heat in an illegal mining case in Sahibganj, where his MLA representative has been termed “kingpin” of a “scam” that has allegedly produced proceeds of crime worth over Rs 1,000 crore. The CM had been questioned in this case by the agency in November 2022.
The agency had in May 2022 arrested then mining secretary Pooja Singhal for alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds in the state. Another IAS officer, Chhavi Ranjan, was arrested by the agency in May 2023 for his alleged role in the same case in which Soren has been skipping ED’s summons.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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