JMM chief Shibu SorenThe Delhi High Court Monday stayed the proceedings initiated by Lokpal of India against JMM president and Rajya Sabha MP Shibu Soren on the basis of a complaint alleging he has amassed huge wealth and assets by “adopting unscrupulous and corrupt means” in Jharkhand.
Justice Yashwant Varma said the matter requires consideration and till the next date of listing, there shall be a “stay of further proceedings pending before” the Lokpal. The court listed the matter for hearing on December 14.
Shibu Soren said the Lokpal has taken cognisance of a “politically motivated, frivolous and misconceived Complaint” dated August 5, 2020, filed by Nishikant Dubey, a BJP MP from Jharkhand.
The Lokpal had directed a preliminary inquiry under provisions of the Lokpal & Lokayuktas Act, 2013, and called for an inquiry report from the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal represented Soren before the court against the Lokpal proceedings.
It was argued before the court that Lokpal could not have taken cognisance of the complaint as the same itself records that except for the properties of the JMM, none of the properties was acquired within seven years of the date of the complaint. The law bars Lokpal from inquiring or investigating “into any complaint if the Complaint is made after the expiry of a period of 7 years from the date on. which the offence mentioned in such Complaint is alleged to have been committed”, the court was told.
“In the list of assets filed with the Complaint on the basis of which the impugned proceedings have been registered, the date of alleged acquisition of the properties by the Petitioner range from the years 1990 till 2009 and the latest alleged acquisition is of 20.07.2009, which would show that the alleged offence, if at all, forming the subject matter of the Complaint is hopelessly barred by limitation and beyond the jurisdiction of the [Lokpal] under Section 53 of the Lokpal & Lokayuktas Act, 2013,” read the petition.
Soren said the allegations against him are “ex facie malicious, false, baseless and frivolous” and no instance of a single specified purported act of corruption is alleged in the complaint. The complaint is devoid of any particulars and is “rambling yarn spun” by a “disgruntled and unsuccessful political opponent” of his and the party which has formed government in Jharkhand after the 2019 assembly elections, he said in the petition.
The petition also states on April 1 Soren had objected to the jurisdiction of Lokpal but despite that, the body on August 4 directed initiation of proceedings and called upon him for a hearing “without dealing with the preliminary objection” on the issue of jurisdiction. The hearing before the Lokpal was scheduled on September 12.