New Delhi: Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has moved the Supreme Court challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged land scam.
Soren, represented by senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, petitioned the Bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud calling for an urgent hearing on the matter. The CJI scheduled it for a hearing tomorrow, February 2.
“This Court has to set out the contours of Section 19 PMLA [Prevention of Money Laundering Act] …how can a man be arrested like this…it affects the polity of the country,” Sibal said, according to Livelaw.in.
Soren relinquished the chief minister post late on Wednesday, January 31, following his arrest by the probe agency in connection with the probe into the alleged money laundering case. Champai Soren will fill in the shoes of Hemant as chief minister.
In response to Sibal’s plea for hearing by the apex court, Tushar Mehta, counsel appearing for the ED, noted that a similar petition was moved before the Jharkhand high court. At this juncture, Sibal said the petition before the high court would be withdrawn and requested the top court to hear the matter.
Meanwhile, a local PMLA court in Ranchi hearing Soren’s plea sent him to one-day judicial custody until Friday, February 2, turning down ED’s plea for 10-day custody. The PMLA court will hear Soren’s plea on Friday.
On the other hand, Jharkhand governor C.P. Radhakrishnan agreed to meet legislators supporting Soren’s party (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha – 29, Congress – 17, and Rashtriya Janata Dal – 1) at 5:30 pm on Thursday.