New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear the petition of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who challenged his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
enior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned Hemant Soren’s petition challenging his arrest by ED on Wednesday. The SC agreed to hear the petition on Friday.
Soren said the manner of arrest just before general elections has an adverse impact on the politics of the country.
Though Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrchud was to sit in a 7-judge bench to hear the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) case, on request of Sibal and Singhvi, the CJI constituted a special bench of three judges, comprising himself, Justice J B Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra, to take up mentioning of Soren’s petition.
Senior Advocate Sibal argued that the Supreme Court has to set out the contours of Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). How can a man be arrested like this? The arrest memo says 10 o’clock; they say arrested at 5 p.m. A very serious matter, Sibal said.
Lashing out at ED, Sibal said, Before the election, will you keep on arresting?
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that Soren has filed a petition in the High Court, which is listed for hearing tomorrow.
To this, Sibal replied, Soren is withdrawing the plea from the High Court today. The CJI then fixed the matter to be heard on February 2.
