Jharkhand High Court on Friday said that the recent police raid at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office here prima facie appears to be pre-planned. Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi, while hearing a writ petition filed by the ED, directed the central agency to make the Union Home Secretary a party in the case. The court ordered the Union Home Secretary to deploy CRPF/BSF or any other paramilitary force to provide security to the ED office and its officers.
Jharkhand High Court advocate Dheeraj Kumar said that the hearing on the criminal writ filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Jharkhand High Court was held today in the court of Jharkhand High Court Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi. After listening to all the parties, the court has directed to stop the investigation action being taken by Ranchi Police with immediate effect. The state government has been directed to file its reply within 7 days, while private respondent Santosh Kumar has been directed to file its reply within 10 days.
Instructions have been given to hand over the security of the ED office to the Central Paramilitary Force (CISF, CRPF or BSF). The next date of February 9 has been fixed for detailed hearing of this case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a petition in the Jharkhand High Court demanding a CBI investigation against the raid conducted by the Jharkhand Police at the Ranchi zonal office. The police reached the ED office after an FIR was lodged at the airport police station by a PHED employee in a money laundering case. Meanwhile, BJP described the presence of police in the ED office as a direct attack on the independence of a central investigating agency.
Speaking to the media, Union Minister of State for Defense and Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth said that the police took immediate action on the complaint of an accused involved in a multi-crore scam, who has already spent 18 months in jail. Opposition leader Babulal Marandi alleged that the state government was trying to protect the accused.
