Hemant Soren bail plea | SC issues notice to the ED; to consider his plea next week

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31, 2024, in connection to a money laundering case. File | Photo Credit: PTI

The Supreme Court of India has issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s plea for interim bail.

The Bench, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, gave the Jharkhand High Court liberty to pronounce judgment on Mr. Soren’s petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31. It posted the case for the week commencing on May 6.

Mr. Soren moved the Supreme Court on April 24 saying the high court was not pronouncing its verdict on his plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mr. Soren, told the Bench that the HC had reserved its verdict on February 28 on his plea but still no decision has been delivered.

Mr. Soren was arrested on January 31 after he resigned as Jharkhand’s chief minister. He was arrested after being grilled by the ED for seven hours in the 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’‘.

(With inputs from PTI)