Amid an escalating confrontation between the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Jharkhand Police, the Jharkhand High Court on Friday stayed any coercive action against ED officials.
The interim relief came during the hearing of a petition filed by the ED, challenging the police action taken at its Ranchi office.
Hearing the writ petition, the bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi directed that no action be taken for the time being against ED officials named in an FIR lodged by Santosh Kumar, an accused in a money laundering case.
The HC directed the State government to give its reply within seven days in the matter and asked to make the Union Home Secretary and Santosh Kumar parties in the case.
The court also asked Santosh Kumar to file an affidavit within 10 days in the case and directed the Border Security Force to guard the ED office along with the existing CISF security cover.
The court’s order has brought significant relief to the ED officers who had been booked following the complaint.
The ED had approached the High Court after Ranchi Police conducted a raid at its office on Thursday.
In its petition, the central agency sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the entire episode, alleging improper police action. The matter was taken up for hearing by the High Court on Friday.
The controversy originated from an FIR filed by Santosh Kumar, an employee of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), who alleged that he was assaulted and subjected to harassment during questioning at the ED office in Ranchi.
Kumar has accused ED officials of misconduct, custodial harassment and physical assault during the interrogation.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered at the Airport Police Station in Ranchi. Subsequently, on Thursday morning, a police team reached ED’s zonal office and carried out a search operation.
The police remained at the premises for several hours and questioned officials who were present at the time of the alleged incident.
The case has triggered a sharp face-off between the state police and the central investigative agency, with further legal proceedings now awaited following the High Court’s interim order.
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