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

New Delhi: Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has approached the Supreme Court against the Jharkhand High Court order which dismissed his plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case against him.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Soren, mentioned the matter before a bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud for early listing of the case.

The bench, also comprising J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked Sibal to send an email and it will look into it.

Sibal, while mentioning the matter, sought early listing of the case and told the bench that elections in Jharkhand would begin from May 13.

“Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31, we moved the High Court on February 4 and High Court did not deliver the judgement. The fourth phase of election starts on May 13…. This court issued notice and High Court delivered the judgement on May 3. We have filed the SLP, very unfortunate that rights are being trampled in this fashion,” Sibal claimed.

On May 3, the Jharkhand High Court dismissed Soren's plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, days after the Supreme Court agreed to hear his plea against ED arrest in the week commencing from May 6.

The judgement was reserved by the High Court on February 28.

The High Court, in its order, had said Soren can't wriggle out of the mess he has created for himself by raising the bogey of political vendetta.

Earlier, Soren had moved the top court, citing the High Court's delay in pronouncing the verdict on his petition challenging his arrest by the ED and on April 29 it issued notice on the plea challenging his arrest.

Soren was being investigated for money laundering charges in connection with an illegal mining case, as well as an alleged land scam in Ranchi.

The Enforcement Directorate, investigating both cases, claimed that approximately Rs 8.5 acres of property in question constituted proceeds of the crime.