Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam was directly indulged in the process connected with acquisition, possession and the use of proceeds of crime, the probing agency has informed.
Mentioning about the grounds of arrest of Hemant Soren under Section 19 of the PMLA, 2002, the Enforcement Directorate said, "The property measuring approximately 8.5 acres is proceeds of crime which has been in unauthorised and illegal possession and use of Hemant Soren. He has directly indulged in the process connected with acquisition, possession and the use of proceeds of crime."
"Hemant Soren is knowingly a party along with Bhanu Pratap Prasad and others in the activities connected with concealment of the original records for projecting the property acquired by him in an illegal manner as an untainted property...," it said.
In his petition filed before the Supreme Court, Hemant Soren termed his arrest by the ED as part of a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Terming the arrest as “illegal”, the plea filed by Soren alleged that the ED officials abused their powers for extraneous considerations under the dictates of the Central government as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is a prominent opposition party and an active constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc.
“The arrest is part of a well-orchestrated conspiracy, which has been given shape at the anvil of the general elections slated in a few months,” it said.
The petition filed directly before the Supreme Court said the entire proceedings by the ED are without jurisdiction and the petitioner should be released by setting aside the illegal and arbitrary arrest.
As per the details published on the website of the apex court, Soren’s plea will be heard on Friday by a special bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh and Bela M Trviedi.
The top court listed the matter for today after senior advocate Kapil Sibal made an urgent mentioning before a bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), DY Chandrachud.
With inputs from IANS
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