Hemant Soren moves SC against rejection of his bail plea by Jharkhand HC

New Delhi: Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren moved the Supreme Court on Monday against the Jharkhand High Court order dismissing his plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

Appearing for Soren, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, seeking urgent listing of his plea.

Sibal said polling in Jharkhand for the Lok Sabha elections will commence on May 13 and Soren should be allowed to campaign for his party JMM. “Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31. We moved the High Court on February 4 and it reserved the judgment on February 28 but did not deliver the judgment. The High Court kept the judgment pending for long. The first phase of election starts in the state on May 13 and so we moved this court under Article 32 of the Constitution, and notice was issued last week. After the notice was issued, the High Court delivered the judgment rejecting his plea. Unfortunately, rights are being trampled in this fashion,” Sibal said.

The bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said it would look at the request and that Soren’s plea for interim bail was set to come up for hearing on May 7. Sibal said his appeal against the High Court judgment should also be listed along with the bail plea.

On May 3, the Jharkhand High Court dismissed Soren’s writ petition challenging his arrest by the ED and denied bail to him.

Soren has been undergoing judicial custody at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi since February 15 after his 13-day ED custody ended.

The top court had on April 29 sought a response from the ED on Soren’s interim bail plea in the case. Soren was arrested on January 31 after he resigned as the Jharkhand chief minister, and party loyalist and state transport minister Champai Soren was named as his successor.