The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will take up in January the petition filed by the Jharkhand government against summoning of state police officers by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Barharwa toll plaza case.
The matter was mentioned before the Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, which agreed to hear the same in January after the Winter vacations.
The Counsel representing the Jharkhand government contended that the summoning of police officers by ED was a direct violation of the rights of the state.
He further said that ED has issued summons to the officers of Jharkhand Police after two years of them getting a clean chit in the case related to the toll plaza tender in 2020.
The Hemant Soren government had moved the Apex Court against the jurisdiction of ED to review the investigation of the Barharwa toll plaza case done by the state police.
On December 12, Jharkhand police DSP Pramod Kumar Mishra skipped appearing before the ED in the toll plaza case, claiming that when he was about to leave for the ED office, he got information that the state government had filed an SLP before the Supreme Court.
Stating that law and order were state subjects, Mishra said that he was a state government employee and was bound to obey the orders of the state government. He added that he was also a deponent in this writ petition.
Mishra said that he was ready to appear before the ED to assist the agency in its probe.