Supreme Court examines ED's response to interim bail plea filed by former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate ED on an interim bail plea of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case.A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the ED and sought its response by May 6.The bench said the Jharkhand High Court may pronounce its verdict on Sorens plea challenging his arrest in the case.

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on an interim bail plea of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the ED and sought its response by May 6.

The bench said the Jharkhand High Court may pronounce its verdict on Soren's plea challenging his arrest in the case. The order was reserved on February 28.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Arunabh Chowdhury, appearing for Soren, said they want interim bail in the matter. Sibal referred to sections under which Soren was booked and said there was nothing against him.

The bench said that the allegation relates to a plot of 8.5 acre land.

When the bench was dictating the order, Sibal tried to suggest a date for the next hearing in the matter. To this, Justice Khanna said, ''What is this? Give us some discretion.'' Sibal replied, ''I understand your lordships are also pressurised.'' Justice Khanna said, ''No, we are not pressurised.'' Sensing the mood of the court, Sibal clarified that he meant, ''I am saying work-wise my lords are pressurised.'' In this case, the ED is probing the alleged ''huge amounts of proceeds of crime generated by manipulation of official records by showing dummy sellers and purchasers in the guise of forged/bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores''. Soren, in his plea filed through advocate Pragya Baghel, said there has been a pattern that has emerged and it is reflected in the actions of the ED for prosecuting and targeting individuals, especially political leaders belonging to the opposition, on the basis of ''cooked-up allegations''.

''Knowing that the elections are around the corner and with a malafide intent of paralysing the leaders of opposition political parties, of which Hemant Soren being the leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was arrested on January 31, 2024,'' his plea said.

Soren was arrested on January 31 in the case after he resigned as the Jharkhand chief minister, and party loyalist and state transport minister Champai Soren was named as his successor. He was arrested after being grilled by the ED for seven hours in the case.

The development came ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, which were announced on March 16 by the Election Commission.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)