Money laundering case: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant interim bail to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader sought bail for Lok Sabha elections campaigning and cited the recent release of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from jail as an example.
The apex court also sought the Enforcement Directorate's response by May 17 on a plea of Soren, who has challenged his arrest in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, which was initially listing the matter on May 20, had to change the date to May 17 after senior advocate Kapil Sibal said polls would be over by then and he would be prejudiced if the long date is given in the matter.
'Case is covered by Arvind Kejriwal's order'
"My case is covered by Arvind Kejriwal's order and I need bail for election campaigning," Sibal told the bench. The bench said this week it is too much work and a lot of matters are listed.
It expressed unwillingness to change the date from May 20 but after Sibal and senior advocate Arunabh Chowdhury, appearing for Soren persisted with the request, the date was changed to May 17.
"We don’t know whether we will be able to take up the matter but still we are posting it for May 17," the bench said.
Notably, Kejriwal was on May 10 granted interim bail by the top court for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls. He was arrested in a money laundering case related to an alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
Supreme Court disposes Hemant Soren's bail plea
On May 10, the top court had disposed of Soren's plea seeking a direction to the high court to deliver its verdict on his petition challenging his arrest by the ED in a money laundering case.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta observed that the petition has become infructuous as the high court has delivered its judgement on May 3 and Soren has already challenged the same in the apex court. Soren had also sought interim bail for campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections till the high court delivers its verdict on his plea against arrest.
"This has become infructuous," the bench told senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Arunabh Chowdhury, who were appearing for Soren. In his appeal filed through advocate Praghya Baghel, Soren said that the high court had erred in dismissing his plea against the arrest.
Jharkhand HC dismisses Hemant Soren's writ petition
The Jharkhand High Court on May 3 rejected a writ petition by Soren challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and denied bail to the JMM leader. The court, however, permitted him to attend his uncle’s last rites on May 6 under police custody.
Soren was arrested on January 31 in the case after he resigned as the Jharkhand chief minister, and party loyalist and state transport minister Champai Soren was named as his successor. He was arrested after being grilled by the ED for seven hours in the case.
Case against Soren
Soren was arrested on January 31 after he resigned as Jharkhand chief minister, and party loyalist and state transport minister Champai Soren was named as his successor.
The probe against Soren pertains to an 8.86-acre plot of land in Ranchi that the ED has alleged was illegally acquired by him. The money laundering investigation stems from multiple FIRs registered by Jharkhand Police in land "scam" cases against several people, including state government officials.
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 PTI inputs)
Also Read: Supreme Court disposes of former CM Hemant Soren's bail plea in money laundering case
Also Read: Land scam case: Hemant Soren moves Supreme Court after Jharkhand HC rejects his bail plea
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