The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to interfere with the proceedings initiated against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren by the Lokpal based on a complaint by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.

Justice Subramonium Prasad said the former Jharkhand chief minister’s petition challenging the Lokpal proceedings as well as the complaint was “premature”.

It is premature at this juncture, the judge stated while delivering the verdict on Soren’s petition.

A copy of the judgment is awaited.

In the complaint made in August 2020, Dubey, the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Jharkhand’s Godda seat, claimed: “Shibu Soren and his family members acquired huge wealth and properties by misusing the public exchequer and have been grossly indulged in corruption.”

On September 12, 2022, the high court had stayed the Lokpal proceedings and said the matter required consideration.

Assailing the complaint and the Lokpal proceedings, Soren argued before the
high court that the case against him was “purely malafide” and “politically motivated”.

He argued the anti-corruption ombudsman could not have entertained the complaint as the allegations pertained to a time which was seven years before the date of submission of the complaint.

PTI