New Delhi. The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed displeasure with former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for “hiding facts” regarding his filing of a regular bail plea in a lower court in a money laundering case, following which Soren filed a complaint challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate. Withdrawn his petition.
A vacation bench of Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma allowed Soren’s lawyer Kapil Sibal to withdraw the petition. Earlier, the bench warned that if the court looked into the details of the case, it would be “damaging” to the former chief minister.
The bench told Sibal, “Your conduct speaks volumes.” We expected your client to come forward with clarity but you hid important facts.” Sibal tried to defend Soren by saying that he was in custody and he had no knowledge about the petitions being filed in the courts. On this the bench said, “Your conduct is not blameless.” The court said, “He is not a common man.”
The court said that it would dismiss his plea against the arrest without considering the merits of the case. After this, Sibal agreed to withdraw the petition, which was allowed by the bench. The ED had earlier told the Supreme Court that Soren’s arrest on January 31 was upheld by the Jharkhand High Court and the lower court had rejected his regular bail plea on May 13.
Soren cited the Supreme Court’s decision on May 13 to grant interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi Excise scam and requested similar relief for himself. In the appeal filed through advocate Pragya Baghel, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader said that the High Court had erred in rejecting his petition. The investigation against Soren is related to a 8.86-acre plot in Ranchi. The ED alleged that Soren purchased this plot illegally. Soren is currently in judicial custody in Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Central Jail.