Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31.
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today refused to grant interim bail to former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam and posted the matter for hearing on May 17.
Mr Soren’s plea for interim bail, aimed at allowing his participation in campaigning for his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, cited the recent release of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from jail as an example.
“My case is covered by Arvind Kejriwal’s order and I need bail for election campaigning,” Mr Soren’s legal counsel Kapil Sibal told the bench.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta heard Mr Soren’s petition, challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating the money laundering allegations. The court’s decision came after the Jharkhand High Court dismissed Mr Soren’s earlier petition against his arrest on May 3.
Mr Soren’s legal counsel, represented by Mr Sibal and Arunabh Chowdhury, sought an urgent hearing of the plea, highlighting the imminent conclusion of the general elections. The court, however, scheduled the hearing for May 17, declining to grant interim relief to the former Jharkhand chief minister.
In his appeal, filed through advocate Praghya Baghel, Mr Soren contended that the Jharkhand High Court had erred in dismissing his plea against the arrest.
The ED alleges that Mr Soren, during his tenure as chief minister, orchestrated a scheme to generate illicit proceeds by manipulating official records, involving fictitious transactions and forged documents to acquire valuable land worth crores of rupees. The JMM leader was arrested on January 31, leading to his subsequent judicial custody at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi.