‘Existing process disrupts govt work’: Jharkhand Cabinet brings new guidelines to deal with summons from external probe agencies

The decision has been taken at a time when Chief Minister Hemant Soren and a number of state government officials are facing summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren with his colleagues after a cabinet meeting, in Ranchi, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (PTI Photo)

The Jharkhand Cabinet on Tuesday approved guidelines to deal with notices or summonses issued by external investigating agencies, making it mandatory for state officials to inform the nodal head or the head of department concerned about them and not send records or documents directly to the agencies.

According to the Cabinet note detailing the new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), once the summonses or the notices are sent, the Department of Cabinet Secretariat and Vigilance will “obtain appropriate legal advice for follow-up action” in the light of the facts presented. The department will then provide necessary cooperation to the investigating agency outside the state.

The decision has been taken at a time when Chief Minister Hemant Soren and a number of state government officials are facing summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Soren has refused to appear before the ED for the seventh time.

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The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, chaired by the CM, decided that there is a need to lay down a “well-organised and clear procedure” to provide required cooperation to the investigating agencies and to present “relevant documents or records” before them.

The Cabinet note stated: “In the recent past, many such cases have come to the notice of the (Jharkhand) state government, in which the investigating agencies outside the state, without providing information to the competent authority of the state government, have sent summons/notices directly to the officials and asked them to appear before the investigating agency. In many cases, government documents/records are also demanded by the investigating agency.”

“(The current procedure is) not in accordance with the prevailing rules. This not only creates confusion in the concerned office but also disrupts government work. There is also a strong possibility that the information being provided may be incomplete or inconsistent. This adversely affects the activities of the state government and the investigation of the investigating agency outside the state.”

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The note stated that a need is felt to lay down a well-organised and clear procedure as the Anti-Corruption Bureau is constituted and functioning as the investigation unit of the state government for prompt action in corruption-related cases, whose administrative controller is the Department of Cabinet Secretariat and Vigilance.

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“Therefore… it is proposed that… the Cabinet Secretariat should be designated as the nodal department of the state government for taking lawful action and required cooperation in the subject matters. If the state government officials receive a summons/notice (which is directly related to the discharge of their government responsibilities)… concerned officials will immediately inform the same to their departmental head… whose responsibility will be to provide factual information about such matters to the nodal department, Cabinet Secretariat, without any delay,” the note added.

The department will obtain appropriate legal advice for follow-up action and after the advice the officials concerned “will accordingly provide necessary cooperation to the investigating agency outside the state in taking the desired action”, the note said.