The Supreme Court declined to intervene in the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) arrest of Hemant Soren, a leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and a former chief minister of Jharkhand, over allegations of money laundering related to a land scam.
MM Sundresh, Bela M. Trivedi, and Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked Soren to file a case at the Jharkhand High Court before going to the Supreme Court. “Why didn’t he go to the High Court? Why am I here, directly at the Supreme Court?” Justice Khanna inquired.Senior Counsel Kapil Sibal answered on Soren’s behalf, saying, “We are dealing with a Chief Minister.”
“Anyone is welcome to use the courts. Justice Khanna remarked, “If we are going to allow one person, we have to allow everyone.” The Court then made it apparent that Soren should file a motion with the High Court first since it is not inclined to accept the plea. Justice Khanna emphasised, “Please go to the High Court; we will not interfere.”
Before the Supreme Court, Soren had first entered a plea in the High Court but then withdrew it. “Under Article 32, we are hesitant to grant the current petition. We allow you to file a claim under Article 226 with the relevant High Court. We have been informed that a plea was submitted to the High Court and is presently awaiting action. After then, an additional Article 226 plea was submitted, but it was eventually dropped. The Supreme Court gave the petitioner permission to change it.
The former chief minister of Jharkhand and leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was pleading with the judge to overturn his arrest by the ED. In a case involving a “huge racket of illegal changes of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand, Soren has been charged by the ED. On January 20, the organisation recorded Soren’s statement in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In this case, more than a dozen people have been detained thus far. Among them is Chhavi Ranjan, an IAS officer from the 2011 batch who was the Director of the State’s Social Welfare Department and the Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi. In relation to the case under Section 45 of the PMLA against Soren, Ranjan, nine other people, and three corporations, the ED filed a prosecution charge on June 23, 2016.
Soren has refuted claims of money laundering, even while the accused remain imprisoned. In a video that was made public shortly before his apprehension, Soren asserted that he was being detained as part of a plot based on “fake papers.” On January 31, Soren resigned from his position as CM following his ED arrest. He has contested each and every summons that has been issued to him in the case thus far, and he is pleading for protection from any coercive actions that may be done by federal agents. Soren emphasised that his personal assets were purchased using money that was properly reported on tax returns and that the summons contains no information about the investigation into him.
