Hemant Soren arrest: Supreme Court dismisses plea seeking interim bail relief for former Jharkhand CM

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 22, dismissed the plea of former Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren, which challenged his arrest by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with money laundering case. 

The plea seeking interim release was dismissed by the vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma, denying relief to Soren.

Supreme Court Piqued

Further, the apex court also pulled up Soren for “suppressing facts” from it that he had filed bail plea before trial court, following which he withdrew his petition, as per a PTI report.

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The bench allowed Soren's lawyer Kapil Sibal to withdraw his plea after warning that delving into the details of the case could be “damaging” to Soren, it added. 

“Your conduct tells a lot. We expected your client to come up with candour but you suppressed material facts. Your conduct is not without blemish. He is not a layman,” the bench told Sibal, after he tried to defend Soren saying he is in custody and does not have any knowledge about the petitions being filed in courts.

Background of the Case

The ED on its part had earlier informed the court that Soren's arrest in January was upheld by the Jharkhand High Court. It added that his bail plea was also dismissed by the HC on May 13. 

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Soren had sought bail by referencing the SC's order granting interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Admi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal.  In this appeal to the SC, his advocate Praghya Baghel argued that the HC had erred in dismissing his plea.

 The ED is investigating accusations regarding a 8.86 plot of land in Ranchi that was allegedly illegally acquired by Soren. The JMM chief is being held in judicial custody in Ranchi's Birsa Munda Central Jail.

(With inputs from PTI)