The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) response by May 20 regarding former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s plea for interim bail in a money-laundering case, enabling him to campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
Next Hearing on May 21
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta also instructed the federal probe agency to submit a concise reply on Soren’s plea against his arrest, scheduling the matter before a vacation bench on May 21.
Soren’s Plea
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Soren, emphasized that if granted interim bail, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader would surrender on June 2, 2024.
“There is no material against me in the case. Elections will be over if not granted interim bail,” Sibal stated. Sibal and senior advocate Arunabh Chowdhury, also representing Soren, reiterated that the JMM leader neither possesses the land in question nor has any involvement in the matter.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the ED, noted that Soren was arrested earlier and has not challenged the rejection of his regular bail application.
The JMM leader was apprehended on January 31 in connection with the money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam following his resignation as the Jharkhand chief minister.
