SC refuses to interfere with Hemant Soren’s arrest, asks him to move high court

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case. The top court asked his lawyers to rather move the Jharkhand High Court.“Why don’t you approach the high court,” the top court asked Kapil Sibal, appearing for Soren. Sibal submitted to the court that the case pertained to a chief minister who has been arrested.
“Courts are open for everybody and high courts are constitutional courts,” the top court said.Soren was arrested on Wednesday by the central agency following questioning in connection with a money laundering probe into a land scam case. He was produced before the court on Thursday and was sent to a day-long judicial custody. The JMM leader had accused the ED of arresting him as part of a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” by the Centre ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due months from now.
In his plea before the apex court, Soren urged it to declare his arrest as unwarranted, arbitrary, and in violation of his fundamental rights.
The Enforcement Directorate, while producing Soren before a special PMLA court in Ranchi on Thursday, had claimed that the ex-Jharkhand chief minister had illegally acquired and allegedly possessed 12 adjacent land parcels in Ranchi measuring 8.5 acres, obtained by “a very large syndicate” involved in grabbing properties.The central agency’s probe against Soren stems from the raids it carried out in 2023 against one Bhanu Pratap Prasad, a sub-inspector in the revenue department in the state, who allegedly worked along with the land mafia.According to ED, the sub-inspector was allegedly involved in hatching conspiracies to acquire and conceal various properties in an illegal manner including the ones which are illegally acquired and possessed by Hemant Soren.