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SC upholds CBI case against JMM MPs on disproportionate assets

In a significant decision, the Supreme Court on Friday upheld a trial court order in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MPs bribery case directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to register cases against Shibu Soren, Suraj Mandal and Simon Marandi for depositing over Rs 1.6 crore in a bank, which was allegedly disproportionate to their known source of income.

Dismissing a petition filed by Soren to quash the FIR registered against him on the direction of the trial court, a division bench comprising Justices G B Pattanaik and U C Banerjee said, "The trial court's direction to the CBI is a perfectly legal order."

Arguing for the petitioner, senior advocate P P Rao said Soren and others have been acquitted in the case as they enjoyed the immunity provided under Article 105(2) of the Constitution, which provided that nothing said or done pursuant to voting on the floor of the House could be a subject matter of proceedings before a court.

The bench said the disproportionate assets was independent of the immunity and even if the immunity applied the same could be deliberated upon at a later stage after investigations were carried out.

"This is not the stage where the courts should interfere. The constitutional immunity granted by the apex court is not trampled in any manner by the ongoing investigations," the bench said.

The high court had already dismissed a similar petition filed by Soren on January 18.

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